secondhand Knowledge
by RadioChick
Summary: Thriftstore finds, Dennys, Kittens, And Sam Braun is at it again
1. I wasted time and now doth time waste me

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue my sorry butt!  
  
A/N: This story has been re-published because I apparently accidentally deleted it months ago, and didn't realize until someone went looking for it. Hehehe. There are a few new chapters at the end as well. Thanks to TBAChikita for letting me know I was being hunted, and for finding the files on my PC! G  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
There it was. The golden fleece of thrift store shopping. The one find that makes your trip and time spent scouring racks of wife-beaters and moo-moos all worth it! A pristine pair of skin tight Dolce Gabanna pants. And it was all hers. Catherine folded the article of clothing over her arm, and continued to peruse the aisles. There was a certain high that went along with a great bargain. Thrift Stores around Vegas were unlike any others. Finding a designer top for two bucks was common place. And if you didn't mind previously worn-in shoes, the kicks were fine too. It's a good thing. Having been a well-paid stripper in her previous existence, she had grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Designer clothes, fine wines, and fast cars. These were her drugs of choice now. And thrift stores and outlet malls were keeping her out of the poor house. This was her diversion. . . along with her daughter.  
  
"Cat?"  
  
Catherine turned at the sound of a familiar voice.  
  
"Sara! Never seen you in here before."  
  
Sara already had a small stack of clothes slung over her arm as well.  
  
"First time." She was a little apprehensive of her finds, and seemed to be trying to conceal them. . . which of course made Catherine even more curious.  
  
"So!. . . What'd you find?" She eyed her colleague's bounty.  
  
"Uh, well, a bunch of stuff. Just needed some casual clothes, and didn't want to bust the bank." Sara shifted a little.  
  
"Uh huh. Let's see? I just found some great slacks." She proudly held up the slender black trousers. Sara seemed much less excited about sharing her own finds. Catherine's eyebrows shot up at the sight of a small red dress, a pair of black high heels, and sweater with a neckline that would threaten to let things fall out. She grinned.  
  
"Hmmm! Well, I'm guessing those aren't for field work. . . unless you're going under cover again." She laughed, and Sara gave her a dirty look.  
  
"Nope. I said they were casual." She groaned at the prospect of Catherine sharing this with the guys.  
  
"Yeah! Well casual what exactly?" She couldn't help but laugh, and apologized immediately. "I'm sorry, Sara. It's really none of my business. Hot date?" She laughed again.  
  
"OK, I'm putting these back." Sara made a move to dump her findings, but Catherine stopped her, and smiled.  
  
"Oh, don't be such a baby. There's nothing wrong with having fun outfits for dates. Those are nice finds. Besides, we team up, we can find more stuff!" Catherine had definitely warmed up to her comrade over the past few months. She loved Nick and Warrick as well, but they weren't likely to go shopping with her. This could be fun. Sara wasn't terribly sure about this.  
  
"Try this!"  
  
Before Sara could duck, she was hit in the face by a periwinkle silk blouse.  
  
"Periwinkle looks great on anybody. Plus, it beats those tie-died looking flower-power tops you wear sometimes at work."  
  
"Hey! I like those. They're comfortable, and they're fun."  
  
"They're ugly, and they make you look a refugee from a commune. Tell me you weren't raised in a commune?" This was much more fun than she expected. She felt like she was on one of those new shows.Stripper Eye for the Geeky CSI! Sara merely went along with it. It was kind of fun shopping with Catherine. It was easier to go along with Cath now, then put up a fight and hear more reasons that her taste in clothes stunk.  
  
"No. . . but my parents were hippies." Sara grinned at Catherine's mild shock.  
  
"Wow. I would've guessed they were professors or school teachers. Bet they're proud you became a vegetarian." She wheeled the newly acquired cart over to Sara who dumped her armload in with much relief.  
  
"They don't know. My dad eats more red meat than Nick." She didn't look up as she spoke, pulling a Harvard t-shirt off the rack grinning. "How could anyone ditch their Harvard tee?" She tossed it into the cart to a frowning Catherine.  
  
Catherine wondered what the parents of Sara Sidle must be like. She'd met Nick's folks, and they were exactly what she had expected. Warrick's grandmother fit him to a tee as well. She knew Grissom's mother was an antiques dealer. Also very appropriate. How do a couple of hippies end up with a daughter like Sara? She tried not to be so much the investigator, and put her mind back to the task at hand.  
  
"Whoa! You've got to get this little number!" Catherine handed Sara a beautiful crimson button-up top, and a nice black pant suit with a ¾ length jacket.  
  
"Great! I'll look like the feds."  
  
"Gimme a break! I'd pay to see the look on the guys faces if you wore this into work tonight." She smiled at the thought of poor Greg's tongue hanging out. "It's very chic."  
  
Sara held it up to scrutinize it. It was nice, and it looked very professional in a sexy kind of way. She was afraid she couldn't pull it off.  
  
"I dunno. I might just look silly in this. Like I'm trying to be somebody else." She put it in the cart. Maybe she wanted to be somebody else for a change. "OK. That's it for me. Gotta get home and get ready for work."  
  
"Great! I'm off tonight. But I'll see you tomorrow. Wear that suit!" She pointed a stern finger at Sara who rolled her eyes in response as they divvied up the cart's contents.  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
Sara examined the outfit in the mirror. The suit fit perfectly. The silk blouse was a bit large, but tucked in, you couldn't tell. The jacket was form-fitting, and still comfortable. She was relieved that the slacks had belt loops so she could attach her gun holster. No way was she wearing that uncomfortable shoulder holster again for an entire shift. They were nice- looking pants too. Much nicer than she would usually wear to work. It would probably be coated in luminol and powder by the end of shift anyhow. She decided to wear her hair pulled up and back. Might as well do this right. A little unsure about this still, she tucked a sleeveless t-shirt, and jacket into her duffle bag as a backup. Part of her was a little excited to be dressed so nice for work. Most of the police detectives wore suits every day. What was the big deal?  
  
-~-~-~  
  
As she walked through the halls towards the break room, Sara was very self- conscious about the looks she was getting. Even Archie looked away from his microscope as she passed. Greg popped out of his lab, and stopped her.  
  
"You got an interview today or something?" He liked what he saw. Of course he like seeing Sara anytime, but today she looked right out of a magazine. Not the kind of magazine he fantasized she was in, but a magazine none the less.  
  
"Nope." She smiled at him, and walked on. She had to admit that Greg's reaction had been fun, but she also wasn't sure she liked all the attention. It was a little embarrassing. She didn't think she was that great looking to begin with.  
  
She sat down on the couch in the break room, and read through the case she had been working on the night before.  
  
"Whoa!" Nick wolf whistled, startling Sara back to the present. He stood grinning next to her.  
  
"Nice threads. You got an interview or something? Court date?" He sat down next to her to await the others.  
  
"No." She laughed, and continued reading the file. She grinned as she noticed Nick casting sideways glances at her, trying not to ogle her outright.  
  
Warrick and Grissom walked in and next. Warrick walked over to the table and sat down before looking up at his colleagues. Grissom, on the other hand, stood in the doorway appearing to be somewhat stunned. He stood there with his mouth open a bit, looking at Sara like she was a puzzle. Warrick noted Sara's new attire, and smiled.  
  
"Nice duds. Due in court today?" Warrick grinned.  
  
"No, and I don't have an interview either." She looked up at Grissom, who had finally come to his senses, and closed his gaping mouth. He walked in, and handed Warrick a folder.  
  
"Nick, you and Warrick are on a convenient store robbery/homocide uptown. Sara, you're with me. We're taking Greg out today. We've got a DB out in the desert."  
  
"Great. I'll go snag the labrat." Sara got up and headed out to Greg's lab, unaware of the three sets of eyes watching her exit the room.  
  
"Ok. . .what was that?" Warrick looked around at the other two men, and smirked.  
  
"Don't ask me. You sure she's not interviewing someplace, Grissom?" Nick laughed until he noticed that Grissom was not amused at the thought.  
  
"No. Maybe it's laundry day. Nothing else to wear." He left the younger CSI's trying desparately not to laugh at his theory that Sara had exhausted every possible outfit, but a sexy business suit.  
  
"Yeah, that's a possibility." Warrick laughed, and walked out followed by a chuckling Nick.  
  
Sara walked into Greg's domain, bringing a bright smile to his face.  
  
"Ah! We meet again!" He put the page he'd just ripped from the printer down, and gave her his full attention.  
  
"Looks like you're with me and Grissom today out in the field." She smiled at him. For his part, Greg tried his best not to do a dance of joy. While going out in the field made him nervous still, he was very happy that it was to be with Sara. . . he was definitely hot for teacher. Even if Grissom would be there too.  
  
"SO! You got all dressed up just to take me out in the field, and show me the ropes?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.  
  
"Yes, Greg. You found me out. That is precisely why I wore a nice suit today." She rolled her eyes at him, and handed him the folder on the case to look over in the SUV. "Although I will be showing you a lot of techniques tonight." She laughed and walked back out. She didn't need to look back to know he was following right behind her.  
  
"And would any of those 'techniques' involve ropes and handcuffs?"  
  
"Um, no. Sorry." Sara had to laugh. Greg was fun to work with. She actually looked forward to working with him out in the field. He was going to make a great CSI some day.  
  
"Just read that file. It's always good to have as much information as possible going in, but try not to jump to any conclusions. I know that can be tough, but you get used to it. You just have to wait for the evidence to start talking to you." She smiled at hearing herself sound so much like a teacher.  
  
If it had been anyone else but Greg, she would've felt odd training him. Greg was easy to talk to, and he already knew so much about the evidence. He just needed to learn about the collection process, and how to deal with being at an actual crime scene. She remembered back to when Grissom had taught her 'the ropes.' It had been a very exciting time for her. It was when she had really started to get to know Grissom, and respect him so fully. At that moment, it occurred to Sara. . .Greg looked at her very much the same way she had looked towards Grissom. She looked over at Greg for a moment as they were loading supplies into the back of the Tahoe. She knew he harbored a crush on her, and had asked her out several times. She knew he had been only half joking. She was going to have to be sure that Greg knew she respected him, and that he understood that she was his friend. After Greg called shotgun, Grissom shrugged, and got into the backseat. This should be an interesting shift.  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
"Gloves." Grissom gave Greg a stern look as he bent over the body.  
  
Greg quickly pulled a pair of latex gloves from his vest pocket, and stooped down beside him. Sara snapped a few photos, and stepped back as Grissom began instructing Greg on crime scene techniques.  
  
"Ok. First things first. We need to get a start on these footprint impressions. Here's a bag of dental stone. Add the water to the bag," Grissom carefully poured the water into the baggy, and resealed it, "and start massaging it for about four minutes. Should feel like pancake batter." He handed the baggy to Greg who started kneading it carefully. Greg was just barely able to contain his urge to squeal "My momma made Shake 'n' Bake an' Ah helped!" He figured it was best to tone down the humor with a dead body present.  
  
"So this is part of the glamour that is field work?" Greg grinned at Sara who had finished setting up the tripod over the prints, and was snapping off photos.  
  
"Yup. At least we've got other evidence to collect while those casts dry. Here." Sara moved the tripod after finishing the final shot, and knelt down by the first print. "Don't pour it directly onto the impression. That can destroy it. Pour to the side, and let it flow into the print." She watched as Greg slowly poured the dental stone into the print until it overflowed. "Nice!" Greg beamed with pride. Any praise from Sara was welcomed. Grissom stood over the two of them observing.  
  
"Good job, Greg. Only about six more, and some tire treads to go." He smirked as he handed Greg a bucket to mix the next batch of stone up with.  
  
"Oh, joy." Greg deadpanned. Sara followed Grissom over to the body.  
  
"What've we got?" She looked up at David who was waiting for them to finish so he could leave. Grissom pulled back the sheet.  
  
"Male. Looks like mid thirties. Gunshot to the back of the neck, execution style." Grissom stood back so that Sara could take photos. She quickly snapped off the necessary photographs, and went back to the Tahoe to ditch the camera and film.  
  
"Looks like a body dump. This isn't the primary crime scene." Sara looked over Grissom's shoulder as she spoke.  
  
"And you know that how?" Greg was eager to learn. He tried to get himself accustomed to looking at a dead body. It was a far cry from the trace lab.  
  
"Not enough blood. No spatter. It's too clean. I'll wager somebody's having their trunk professionally cleaned today though." Sara looked up at Grissom, then at Greg who she could tell was being a trooper. She remembered the first few times she'd hovered over a dead body. Hers had been at the coroner's office though, not out in the field. The heat wasn't being kind to the carcass, and the smell was awful.  
  
"Breath through your mouth. It honestly helps." She patted him on the arm, and pulled the sheet back over the body.  
  
Grissom motioned for David to take the body. The trio leaned up against the Tahoe. It would be another half hour before they could be sure all the castings were good and dry.  
  
Greg began patting out a drum beat on the bumper until Grissom glared at him. Sara snickered. She joined Greg's little improv by tapping her sunglasses against the back window. Grissom just rolled his eyes, and smiled.  
  
"Bad boys, bad boys.whatcha gonna do?" Greg 'sung' to the beat as Sara and Grissom both were now laughing.  
  
"Greg!" Grissom glanced over at him. Greg immediately stopped, still grinning though. He could tell Grissom wasn't actually angry. For some reason he wasn't as intimidated by his boss when he was actually out there, working with him. The first time he'd ever been out in the field he was terrified. He'd totally frozen up, and feared Grissom would never trust him again. When Grissom first approached him about going out in the field for training, he'd been thrilled.  
  
"Times up. Let's get those castings back to the lab, and see what Doc Robbins has for us on our shooting victim."  
  
~-~-~  
  
As they walked into the office, Greg felt high on life. He was practically skipping down the hall beside Sara. Sara had shed the heavy designer jacket, and was now sporting a dusty coating of grit from the crime scene. She parted ways with Greg as he sat down in the DNA lab, but not before telling him what a good job he'd done. Greg didn't think he could be happier. . . unless of course Sara leaned down and smooched him. Yeah, that wouldn't hurt. He beamed at Archie who poked his head only to scowl at his overly happy expression.  
  
"Sara." Grissom caught up with Sara in the break room.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Nice job today with Greg." He still had his sunglasses on even though they were inside, and Sara worried he was getting a migraine. It wasn't a headache. He was, in fact, looking her over from the safety of heavily tinted lenses. A tinge of guilt crept in, but not enough to keep him from casually wiping a bit of smudge from her cheek.  
  
"Dust." He said, nonchalantly.  
  
"Ah." She was caught a bit off guard, but smiled.  
  
"Nice suit." Grissom walked back out without another word. Sara stared at his retreating backside with a slightly confused look on her face.  
  
-~-~-~  
  
That afternoon, Sara found herself back at the thrift store.  
  
"So! By your asking me to go shopping here again, I'm going to take a chance and assume you wore that suit last night." Catherine grinned at Sara who returned the grin and nodded.  
  
"Yeah." She pushed the cart down the cluttered aisle.  
  
"And?"  
  
"And it was pretty comfortable. Everyone thought I had an interview though."  
  
"I'll bet. What did the guys say?" Catherine wished she'd actually been there. Sometimes getting Sara to spill the beans was worse than interrogating a murder suspect.  
  
"They asked me if I had a court date or interview." She laughed again, remembering Nick's wolf whistle.  
  
"Hmmm. What did Grissom say?"  
  
"Nothing. We had a DB out in the dessert. Just a normal shift. Although we did bring Greg out with us."  
  
"You were out in the dessert dressed like that with Greg and Grissom?" Catherine stared at her, and smiled a conspiratorial smile.  
  
"Greg did great. Grissom stood back, and let me do most of the training. It was nice."  
  
Catherine just smirked. 'Yeah! I'll bet Grissom was really watching you teach.' She thought.  
  
"Just a normal shift then?"  
  
"Yup. As normal as a body dump out in the dessert can be."  
  
"Ok, then why are we back here?"  
  
"Do you wanna shop or interrogate me?" Sara gave her a warning look that said 'no more questions or I'll run away.'  
  
In response Catherine handed her a black cashmere sweater.  
  
"Nice."  
  
Sara and Catherine continued down the aisle perusing the miss-matched lots. 


	2. Sweet are the uses of adversity

Chapter 4:  
  
Greg pushed his lab coat into his over-stuffed locker, and crammed the door shut. Being out in the field had been even better than he had hoped. He had learned a lot. He had earned praise from both Sara and Grissom, and he hadn't thought about the explosion once. Before, he always thought he had the safer job. It was the crime scene that was scary. All he dealt with was the aftermath and evidence. Now. . . the illusion was gone. He looked down at his ID. Soon it would say CSI I. He picked his duffle bag up off the floor, and headed out with a big dopey grin on his face. He hadn't felt this good in months!  
  
~-~-~  
  
"Here. You can wear this with that jacket." Catherine held up a V-neck silk blouse that was shinier than Sara would ever imagine a top could be.  
  
"Um-no thanks. We work nights. One stray flashlight beam, and everyone around me's blind!" She laughed, and picked over a row of jeans. "HA! Here ya go, Cat!" Sara handed Catherine a pair of jeans with the butt part cut out.  
  
"Hmmm. . . I think I wore something like that once before." She smirked at the look on Sara's face, and handed them back.  
  
"This is better than buying from catalogs. I still can't believe I found a pair of Vans!" Sara grinned at the pair of tennis shoes she plopped into their cart.  
  
"Those things are clunky. Splurge on a pair of Nike's, for cryin' out loud."  
  
"You have to order these. They're very comfy. Hey!" She pulled a little black dress off an adjacent rack.  
  
"Now yer talkin'!" Catherine looked at the dress admiringly. "Your classic little black dress. Very cute. Who's it by?"  
  
"Ann Taylor "  
  
"Nice enough. A nice red cardigan would look beautiful over that."  
  
"A cardigan? Kinda prudish for you isn't it?" Sara crinkled her nose.  
  
"A tight, red cardigan." Catherine put her hands on her hips. "Pot, thou art black!"  
  
"Ok. I'm good. You ready?" Sara leaned against the cart and laughed.  
  
"Yeah. I gotta pick Lindsey up at my sister's. See you back at the labs."  
  
~-~-~  
  
Sara pulled into her complex just as her cell phone rang.  
  
"Sidle."  
  
"Sara?"  
  
"Grissom? What's up? I can be there in about thirty minutes."  
  
"No rush. This isn't work related."  
  
Sara was silent a moment. Not work related? With Grissom everything was work related.  
  
"Oh, really?" She was interested yet cautious. They'd been avoiding each other for weeks. "Then, what is it related to?"  
  
Grissom took a deep breath. He had dialed the number without thinking it through. Very unlike him. He smiled to himself at the impulsive way he had been behaving lately.  
  
"I just wanted to speak with you. We haven't really had much of a chance to talk." He knew that sounded, well, lame.  
  
Sara was flustered. She wasn't sure whether to be angry, or laugh. What was he getting at? 'Calm down, Sidle.' She got out of her car and started towards her apartment, bags in one hand, cell phone in the other.  
  
"Well, what do you want to talk about?" She rolled her eyes, and walked into her building, heading for the stairs.  
  
"You did a great job with Greg last night." He grinned into the phone. "You looked very nice in that suit."  
  
Was he flirting with her? So far, he'd not said anything more than he'd stated last night. He continued.  
  
"So. . .what brought that on?" He was still grinning; wishing he had better, smoother words to offer. Shakespear, Frost, anything!  
  
"Asks the man sporting the 'I wish I was on Miami Vice' beard and short sleeves?" She chuckled as she opened the door to her floor. As she pushed her way through, she looked down the hall. There, standing in front of her apartment door, was Grissom. He was looking towards the door, probably assuming that she was inside. She grinned broadly. This was new. He had never been to her place in all the time that she'd lived in Vegas.  
  
"So! You don't like the beard?" He waited for a reply. "Sara?" He looked at the phone to make sure he hadn't lost the connection.  
  
"Oh, I like it just fine." She laughed as Grissom jumped a foot in the air. She closed her flip phone, and reached in her jacket pocket for her keys. "Here. Hold these." She thrust her shopping bags in his arms, and opened the door. "Come on in."  
  
Grissom followed her inside, and looked around. It was nice, and well- decorated, but it looked lived in as well. He liked it.  
  
"Sorry I didn't straighten up. Didn't expect company." She smiled at him. "Not that I'm complaining. You want anything to drink? I've got water and coffee."  
  
"Thanks, but I'm fine." He walked over to her bookshelf, and looked at the titles. For someone who claimed not to be well-read, she had quite an assortment. Everything from Physics books to . . . "Is that a Harlequin symbol I see?" He cocked an eyebrow at her as she practically dove for the book in question.  
  
"Uh, no! Well, yes, it is, but no, it's not mine." She yanked the offensive novel off her shelf, and walked it over to a kitchen drawer which she stuffed it in. "I somehow ended up with it in my books when I moved, and I just never got around to tossing it."  
  
Grissom nodded, even though he didn't buy that for one second.  
  
"And how do you know what that symbol means?"  
  
"My mother read those damn things nonstop." He grinned and shook his head.  
  
"Ah." She motioned for him to sit, and she sat across from him on the couch.  
  
"What did you want to talk about, Grissom? Why are you here?" She watched as a somewhat frightened look crossed his face.  
  
"I was thinking about what you said after the explosion."  
  
"Oh." Sara sighed. So that was it. Another lecture about how "this" can't happen.  
  
"I want to know if I'm too late." He studied her face carefully.  
  
Sara heard the words, but the meaning behind them was still doubtful.  
  
"Why now? What's changed?"  
  
"I've changed." He stated it flatly, as if it was obvious.  
  
"This isn't some mid-life crisis is it, Griss? The beard, the snazzy clothes? I really can't handle this right now if it's just some phase you'll regret in a few months." She looked up to meet his eyes. They were full of emotion. She wasn't sure if it was concern or something else.  
  
"This isn't a phase, Sara."  
  
"Grissom." She shook her head. She had wanted this for so long, but after the explosion, and how abruptly he had turned her down, she had been trying so hard to let him go. She had been trying to move on. Now, here he was, sitting in her living room being charming, wanting her to give him a chance. Why was he always so damn confusing?  
  
"Let's have dinner before shift."  
  
"You want to have dinner with me?" Sara smiled.  
  
"Yes. . . Let's 'see where it goes.' I think that's how it went." He grinned at her, and stood up.  
  
"Ok. . .I've got to get ready first though." She grabbed the bags Grissom had been holding onto, and walked back towards her room, glancing back at him as if he were some stress-induced mirage. "Gimme fifteen minutes."  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
Sara tossed the bags from the thrift store on her bed, and headed for her closet. She decided to go with her usual casual work outfit. It took her all of ten minutes to hurriedly get ready, and walk out to meet Grissom who was thumbing through a copy of "Archaeology."  
  
"Ready?" She walked up behind him.  
  
"Yes." He smiled at her. She looked just as beautiful in dark jeans as designer slacks. He mentally shook himself, reminding himself that this was their first dinner together. Regardless of the outcome, they had to go in to work afterwards.  
  
"Good. Where are we going?" She snagged her keys from the counter, and followed him out the door.  
  
"The diner."  
  
"Sounds fine." Sara was a little disappointed, but only mildly. The diner was the group's usual hangout when they met for dinner before shift. No one would give them a second glance there, which was good. However, it wasn't exactly the place she would have chosen for their first date; if in fact this was to be a date. There was still some vagueness on that matter.  
  
~-~-~  
  
They scooted into a booth by the window, and waited to be served. The waitress knew them by site. She joked around a bit about who got what, trying to make polite, somewhat witty banter. Despite the casual attire, familiar surroundings, and present company, Grissom was beginning to feel nervous. He played with his fork, and studied his water without making eye contact.  
  
"Second thoughts?" Sara asked, bringing him out of his stupor.  
  
"And third, and fourth." He looked up, giving her a slight grin. She hadn't expected the blunt truth, but it didn't sting. She was racking her own brain with 'what ifs' and best case/worst case scenarios.  
  
"Want to talk about it?" She ventured.  
  
As he was trying to formulate an intelligible sentence, a familiar grinning face appeared to the side of their booth.  
  
"Hey! My favorite teachers!" Greg scooched into the booth next to Sara, grinning like a fool.  
  
"Hi." Sara smiled in quiet resignation at Grissom, who just rolled his eyes, and grinned. A life of bad timing. He wasn't sure if he'd just been rescued or marooned.  
  
"So! We got any hot cases? Oh! I gotta tell you about this case Ecklie's crew had today. Let me just say that it was quite kinky." He wiggled his eyebrows at Sara, and winked at Grissom for good measure.  
  
"Sounds wild. Tell me all about later on. I hate to drive you off, Greggo, but Grissom and I are working on a case that's kind of 'hush-hush' right now. We were just discussing it."  
  
Greg only showed a hint of disappointment, having been invited to tell all later.  
  
"Ah! Gotcha. Catch ya later then." He gave her a parting wink, and swaggered out the door.  
  
"Hush-hush?" Grissom cocked an eyebrow at Sara and smiled.  
  
"Sounded convincing."  
  
"You could convince Greg that Penguins were attacking the city."  
  
"Not in the evening. Penguins only stalk their prey in the daylight." She grinned into her coffee mug.  
  
"Discovery channel?"  
  
"Mystery Science Theatre." She smirked.  
  
"Some dinner, huh?" He gave a weak grin, and kneaded his brow.  
  
"I have no problem with it." To be totally honest, she was thrilled that they were sitting together at a diner, talking casually, and without argument.  
  
"I know this isn't really what you expected. . ."  
  
"Grissom, I didn't expect anything. This is fine. It's nice. I like being here with you."  
  
She looked around the diner at other couples that were there. Some were animated, deep in discussion. Others just sat together, quietly sipping coffee, and reading the paper. She thought of how the two of them must look to people who didn't know they worked together.  
  
"I'm not exactly an exciting date." Grissom grinned again.  
  
Sara looked up at him. 'Date?' So this was a date to him. And he seemed to think he was letting her down in some way.  
  
"I don't know what you think I expect, Grissom, but I'm not too hard to please."  
  
"I didn't mean that."  
  
"I know, but just having you here, talking to me civilly, makes me happy. I really missed that." She took another sip of coffee.  
  
"I'm sorry if I came across as being angry with you."  
  
Wow! That was the most straightforward thing she had heard come out of Gil Grissom's mouth in years.  
  
"Well, you should be." She smiled again despite the past months. He could erase it all simply by opening up to her, and letting her in. She would commend his efforts so far, if it wouldn't sound condescending. She still couldn't believe he didn't understand that he already had her. She had simply been waiting for him. She'd been waiting longer than most relationships even last.  
  
Grissom motioned the waitress over, seeing that Sara's coffee mug was empty. Sara smiled. Twenty-first Century chivalry.  
  
"Thanks." She said to both Grissom and the waitress. She looked up at the wall clock, and groaned.  
  
"We should get moving. Shift starts in twenty minutes." She began scooting out of the booth as Grissom laid out money for their meals and tip.  
  
She laughed at Grissom's mild shock. The time had gotten away from him. They were both usually in much earlier than this.  
  
"Don't' worry. Greg will already be asking around about what case we're working on." A smile crept across Grissom's face. "If he's not too backlogged, I'll bring him with me again today."  
  
Sara liked that Grissom was warming up to Greg. She felt slightly protective of her favorite lab rat.  
  
"How about breakfast after shift?" Sara playfully nudged Grissom's side. He grinned, and turned to face her.  
  
"I'd like that. Someplace nicer next time. . . maybe Denny's." He gave her a wicked grin as they got in the Tahoe.  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
"You're going to be a great CSI, Greg." Sara pushed her sunglasses up, and finished loading her things back onto the SUV. Greg beamed.  
  
"Thanks. I have a good teacher." He winked at Sara, unaware of Grissom standing directly behind him.  
  
"Why, Greg, you flatter me." Grissom patted him on the back.  
  
"Uh, hey, Gris."  
  
Sara grinned at the two of them, and tossed Greg the keys.  
  
"You drive, Hotshot."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Grissom looked curiously at Sara. As they drove back towards headquarters, Grissom's cell phone rang.  
  
"Yeah?. . . We'll be right there." He closed his phone, and looked over at Greg and Sara.  
  
"What's up?" Sara looked up from her notepad.  
  
"Double homicide less than a mile from here. I told Brass we'd meet him there."  
  
~-~-~  
  
"Ugh." Greg pulled his jacket off , and eyed the stains on the front. "For some reason these samples aren't as disgusting when I get them on Q-tips and bendles."  
  
"Yeah. You might want to wash that." Sara grinned from her own locker.  
  
"Nick said the guys were going to McCallihan's after shift for a beer. Wanna come along?" Greg asked hopefully as he carefully tucked the jacket into his backpack.  
  
Sara thought it over. She hadn't been out after shift in a long time. In fact, she'd been sulking over Grissom.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" She closed her locker and headed out past a very happy trainee. Grissom had seemed to be shaping up his attitude lately, maybe she should do a little 'tude adjustment herself. ~-~-~  
  
"Hey!" Nick greeted Sara with a fresh beer and a high five. Warrick was at the bar talking to the waitress. Greg brushed by Sara and sat down next to Nick.  
  
"Been a while, stranger." Nick teased.  
  
"Yeah." Sara took a long drink of beer, and smiled. It was good to be out with the guys again. "Where's Cath?"  
  
"She'll be here. She had to call her sister to take Lindsey to school." Warrick said from behind her, having procured the waitress's phone number and e-mail address.  
  
"Beer's on me." Sara handed Greg a beer.  
  
"People are going to start to think I'm a teacher's pet." He winked at her.  
  
"I wouldn't worry too much." She laughed and took another drink.  
  
"Are my charms finally winning you over?" He clinked his bottle to hers.  
  
"Sanders, drink yer beer."  
  
Greg grinned, and Nick shook his head and laughed. Sara went up to the bar for another round.  
  
"Give it up, man." Nick patted Greg on the back. "It'll never happen."  
  
"A man can dream, can't he?"  
  
"You've been working with her what, four years? Throw in the towel, man."  
  
Greg grinned.  
  
"Yeah, but I thought she was awesome a lot longer than that."  
  
"How is that?" Greg nearly dropped his beer as Sara stood behind him with an amused look on her face. Nick held up his hands in a 'yer on your own' gesture known to all men.  
  
"Hmmm.do I taste foot?" Greg looked up sheepishly and grinned.  
  
"I'm flattered and all, but you were saying you knew me before Las Vegas? How's that?"  
  
"Well, I didn't know you per say. I knew of you. I saw you around." Greg tried to explain as Nick chuckled, and Sara got confused.  
  
"How?"  
  
"I was an intern in the San Francisco labs when you were still there. We didn't work the same shift, but I saw you there a lot. . .always working your ass off on whatever case you had. I didn't really know who you were or anything, then when you came to Vegas, I was like WOW!" Greg smiled broadly.  
  
Sara just gaped at him. Greg had been back at San Fran, and they'd never met?  
  
"Why have you never told me this before, you big goon!" Sara smacked his arm playfully.  
  
"Uh, just never saw the right time I guess." Greg smiled at her, then got quiet, and drank a long pull from his beer. He had seen Sara at the office in San Fran more often than he let on. He saw when a certain case came in that nearly tore her apart. He saw her sitting alone out on a curb in the parking lot late at night. He saw her do something he bet not many people had ever seen her do. He saw her cry.  
  
"I guess I'm a hopeless romantic." He batted his eyes at her risking another smack, but was handed a fresh beer instead.  
  
"And I'm a pragmatic scientist. Drink up, Bud." They all raised a toast, and drank one last beer before Catherine came with the Tahoe to take them all home.  
  
"How'd you get saddled with driving?" Nick smiled wanly up at Catherine.  
  
"Gotta talk to one of Lindsey's teacher's this afternoon. Wouldn't be too good to go in smelling like beer." She laughed at the wobbly crew before her. They loaded into the SUV and headed off. Warrick and Greg crashed at Nick's since they had spare Clothes in their bags.  
  
"I'll drive 'em home after we crash a while." Nick slurred from his doorstep.  
  
"Sounds good." Catherine got in the car, and turned to Sara, who had her head back and her eyes shut.  
  
"You awake?"  
  
"Hmm?" Sara opened her eyes.  
  
"Just checking. I'll drive you home next."  
  
"Thanks, Cat."  
  
"Good to see you out with the group for once."  
  
"Yeah. I missed it too."  
  
"How's training Greg going?"  
  
"Great. He's doing great. He's going to be a great CSI." Sara closed her eyes again.  
  
"Great." Catherine deadpanned. "How's dating Grissom going?"  
  
"Great." Sara's eyes shot open the moment the word left her mouth. She whipped her head around to glare at Catherine. Catherine just laughed.  
  
"You suck." Sara's head sunk, as she groaned.  
  
"Don't worry. Secret's safe with me. When did this happen? I thought you two were on the outs?"  
  
"It hasn't really 'happened.' We just went to dinner at the diner."  
  
"Uh huh. Going out again soon?"  
  
"Denny's." Sara grinned.  
  
"Wow. . .Grissom really is a closet romantic. I need to have a chat with that man. He should take you someplace nice."  
  
"Say one word, and I'll toss a bottle of printing dust in your wardrobe."  
  
"Gotcha. I hope you were kidding about the Denny's though." She grinned.  
  
"I'm just glad we're getting along again. 'Missed that." Sara's eyes were getting heavy. The combination of a long shift, and alcohol were taking their toll. Catherine pulled up to Sara's complex, and waved goodbye.  
  
"Talk to you later. Just let me know if you need an emergency shopping trip. The thrift store isn't the only place in town with cool clothes you know."  
  
Sara shuddered at the thought of being dragged through some high priced department store.  
  
"Thanks, Cat. I'm good. See ya next shift." She gave a half-hearted wave, and walked to her apartment. 


	3. Things must be as they may

Chapter 7:  
  
Sara was jarred awake by a distant thwacking noise.  
  
"Wha? . . ." She slowly raised her head from the pillow. . ., which was less comfortable than might be thought considering the pillow was lying on the floor wedged between the coffee table and the couch.  
  
"KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!"  
  
"Ugh." Sara shuffled her way to the door, and gazed out the peephole. The distorted features of Greg holding a mug of coffee greeted her. She looked down at herself to check out the damage. Fully clothed, and not smelling too great. Best way to scare off her favorite, yet overly affectionate lab rat buddy.  
  
"Hey." Sara greeted Greg while swiping the offered beverage.  
  
"Hey back atcha!" Greg replied, a little too loudly. He grinned as he noticed she was wearing the same clothes she had on eight hours previous. "You coming in tonight?"  
  
Sara stared blankly at him over the rim of her coffee.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, doesn't shift start in like twenty minutes?"  
  
Sara blinked. She shoved the mug back at Greg, grabbed some pieces of clothing from her dresser across the large studio apartment, and disappeared into the bathroom. Greg grinned. As much as he knew Sara didn't see him in that way, he couldn't help letting his mind wander about. Sara was right on the other side of the wall. . . necked. . . and wet. . .  
  
"Down boy!" Greg chastised himself, and walked over to Sara's music and video shelves to nose around. "Interesting!" He couldn't help noticing the wide variety of genres. Sara didn't seem to stick to any one group of music. There was everything from classical to country to heavy metal. And he was also taken aback by how nice her place was decorated. Not that he expected her to live in a box, but it was warm and welcoming. A stark contrast to how Sara came off most of the time.  
  
"Ready!" Sara popped out of the restroom in fresh clothes, with semi-wet hair.  
  
"Geez! That was fast!"  
  
Sara reclaimed her coffee mug, and grabbed her duffle bag and keys.  
  
"Need a ride?" Greg asked hopefully.  
  
"Thanks, but I have to run errands on break." Sara patted Greg's arm as she locked her door behind the two of them.  
  
"Ok then!" Greg put on a huge grin to cover his disappointment. "Well, see you back at the labs."  
  
~-~-~-~-~  
  
"Greg stopped by your place?!?" Catherine laughed. "That poor guy has it bad for you, I hope you know that."  
  
"He's a nice guy. He knows that we're just work friends."  
  
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to like it." Cath frowned.  
  
"Great. . .make me feel even guiltier. Where's Grissom?"  
  
"Haven't seen him yet." Catherine shrugged.  
  
"Seen Grissom?" Warrick walked into the room, and plopped down next to Catherine.  
  
"Nope." Catherine picked up a folder and flipped through it.  
  
Grissom came walking in with a distinct bounce to his step. Sara grinned, and Catherine rolled her eyes while poking Sara in the arm accusingly. Catherine raised her brows at her, and Sara just mouthed "Don't look at me!"  
  
"Ok! We have a busy night ahead of us." Grissom handed out folders.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
Catherine gave Sara an "I knew it!" look after Grissom assigned Sara to work a homicide with him on the outskirts of the desert. She just grinned. They hadn't worked a case alone together in a while.  
  
"So. . .I guess I'm driving." Grissom handed the folder to Sara to examine. He walked off towards the exit with a slight spring to his step. Sara laughed out loud, glad that no one else was around. The man was acting almost giddy, and all they'd done was go to the diner. She wondered if it had been wise to assign the two of them to a case. But, then, they were both totally capable of being professional. If they couldn't it wouldn't work anyhow. She shook her head, and followed towards the parking lot.  
  
Chapter 8:  
  
"Got everything?" Grissom asked as Sara got into the SUV.  
  
"Yep!" She buckled up, and looked over at him.  
  
Grissom looked straight ahead, and started the engine.  
  
"So. . . what are we dealing with?" Sara spoke, startling Grissom.  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"The case, Grissom." She chuckled at his embarrassed expression.  
  
"Dead body in the desert. Ranger found him about fifty feet off the trail. I.D. says he's an LVU Sophomore. Other than that, we'll see when we get there."  
  
"Who's Greg going with today?"  
  
"Greg is in the labs today. We needed him more there, and his paper work isn't totally cleared. He isn't technically a CSI trainee yet. We drag him out too much, and we'll get cries of misappropriating county personnel from Ecklie. Archie is helping out Warrick and Catherine though."  
  
"Hmmm. That's too bad. Greg's so excited to finally be getting a chance at CSI level 1."  
  
"We all have to take our turns in the labs, Sara." Grissom had an almost irritated tone. It didn't go unnoticed by Sara.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
"Back in here with the lowly lab rats, eh, Greggo?" Jacquie teased from behind the microscope.  
  
"For the day anyhow. Archie got to go with Catherine and Warrick. Since when is he all gungho on field work?"  
  
"Relax. There's plenty of crime to go around." Jacquie was enjoying seeing Greg squirm. She'd missed kidding around with him in the labs.  
  
"Why didn't you ever go out for CSI?" Greg picked up a bindle of evidence, and carefully opened it for testing.  
  
"Field work's not for me. I've been here a long time, and I've seen plenty of good lab technicians get burned out in no time after going into the field. Some people just aren't cut out for it."  
  
"You trying to tell me something?" Greg looked hurt.  
  
"I'm telling you that Archie can tell the sound of a humming bird farting from a mile away, but it doesn't mean he can handle a crime scene. You, I'm not worried about." She laughed, and handed the sample of hair she'd been checking out under the scope back to Greg to put away. Greg beamed at her.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
"This guy's been here a while." David stood next to the body, greeting Sara and Grissom with a welcome smile.  
  
"Approximately how long?" Grissom looked over the body as Sara snapped pictures.  
  
"I'd say about two days. I'm sure you can tell from your little friends." David pointed towards the flies buzzing around the dead man's corpse.  
  
Sara grinned, and glanced around the area for tracks and prints.  
  
"He's been moved at least once since he died." Grissom motioned towards the splotchy coloring around his legs, arms, and face. "The hypostasis indicates he didn't die face up, but on his stomach. After death the blood stops being pumped, it pools anywhere gravity pulls it. Did the ranger attempt to move the body?" Grissom looked up the ridge towards the park ranger.  
  
"He says he didn't touch a thing. Called it in as soon as he saw what it was." David sat his bag down, and waited for Sara and Grissom to finish their work.  
  
Grissom looked around for Sara. She was outside the range of the floodlights, and in the near pitch-black of the night-time desert, he couldn't see a thing past the bright floods.  
  
"Sara?"  
  
"I'm over here on the other side of the ridge." Grissom walked towards her voice until he saw the beam of her flashlight. She was kneeling down over something next to a set of tracks.  
  
"What'd you find?" He knelt down beside her, almost touching her arm.  
  
"This." Sara carefully held up a used condom using her tweezers, and placed it in a bindle. "Also found a very deep set of prints. Must've been a delivery truck or something." She motioned over her should towards the tracks.  
  
"Nice work." He looked over at her. They were well away from the others, lit only by Sara's flashlight. He indulged in the view of her face cast in starlight, and shadows. It was as close to a truly romantic moment as they'd had in a very long time.  
  
"You ready?" Sara stood, and offered him a helping hand up which he politely refused. The moment had ended. They were on the clock, and all business.  
  
"Let's get what we found back to the lab." Grissom grabbed her kit for her, and they walked back towards David and the nervous ranger. 


	4. And God befriend us as our cause is just

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 9:  
  
Catherine stood in the doorway to the DNA lab with a mixture of horror and amusement. Greg was parading around with his headset on while doing air guitar, and mumbling something about shocking yo muthah. She really hated to end this standing room only performance, but-  
  
"GREG!" She plucked his headset off in one swift motion. A startled Greg squealed like a little girl then righted himself quickly.  
  
"Ahem. Why, hello, Catherine." He stated in a deep, manly voice.  
  
"Yeah. Where're my results from the Morrison case?"  
  
"Not back yet. That's actually what I was waiting on. Killing a little time." He grinned a bit sheepishly.  
  
"And some brain cells." She handed back his headset with a smile.  
  
"Thanks. How's the case going?"  
  
"Slow. I'll see if Gris will let you come with us tonight. We need to go back to check some leads with the neighbors."  
  
Greg's attitude lightened upon hearing this.  
  
"Great! I'm there."  
  
"Down boy. Gotta clear it first. I'll let you know after Grissom gets here." She smiled at his enthusiasm, and turned to leave. Greg went back to his phantom guitar performance with more zeal than ever.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
Catherine walked past the conference room, and caught sight of a familiar dark-haired workaholic slumped over a pile of files.  
  
"Aren't you going to even pretend you went home this morning?" Catherine shook her head. Sara looked up from her paperwork and gave a small grin. She looked beat.  
  
"Gotta catch up on some paper work." She tried to stifle a yawn, and took a drink of coffee.  
  
"Hot date?" Cath' winked.  
  
"Not exactly, but there was a condom involved."  
  
Catherine's eyes went wide. Sara couldn't help herself. She laughed out loud, and passed the file with the photos from the crime scene out in the dessert to Catherine. She gave an audible sigh of relief to which Sara smirked.  
  
"I'm still waiting for my DNA results from Greg." Sara leaned her head on her hands, and closed her eyes. She had been writing and reading reports for three hours longer than she cared.  
  
"Hmmph! Well, I was just in there looking for mine, and he seemed pretty backlogged. He was playing rock star again." Catherine handed back the folder. "At least take a break soon." She gave Sara a reassuring smile before exiting the room.  
  
Sara sighed. She ran the night's events over in her head for the hundredth time. Grissom had slipped back into moody mode for a while there. He acted almost jealous whenever she mentioned Greg. No. That was wrong. He was jealous. There was no almost about it. She tried not to smirk at the thought. She never saw Grissom as the jealous type. He always seemed above that sort of every-day emotion to her somehow. She wondered if Grissom honestly felt threatened by the younger man, who was well known for flirting shamelessly with her. She was so caught up in her own little world of thoughts that she very nearly bowled over Warrick. He side-stepped her with grace, and laughed as she breezed by him. He just shook his head at the single-mindedness that he could find somewhat endearing, and walked on.  
  
Sara walked into the DNA lab observing the spectacle before her with a wide grin. She waved her arms in broad gestures to get Greg's attention. He smiled in return, and slid the headphones off. They had been a compromise with Grissom in order to cut down the loud music in the labs.  
  
"Hey, Sara." He was beaming. She couldn't help but appreciate the warm welcome. Grissom would just have to get over it. She liked Greg, and she knew he would be a good CSI eventually.  
  
"Hey yourself. Got room for some more swabs?"  
  
Greg's frown gave his answer.  
  
"I just started a batch. It'll be a while. Hope this isn't a rush."  
  
"Well, soon as you can. I know you've been slammed this week." She handed over the evidence, and walked back out towards the locker room. Shift had ended a few hours previous.  
  
The locker room was deserted. Most people actually left work on time. She sat on the bench in front of her locker deep in thought. She was still a bit caught up on the whole issue of Grissom acting like the Alpha male all of a sudden. She laughed out loud at the notion, and was startled by a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Ahhh! Damnit! Don't ever do that again!" She half scolded, half laughed at the amused expression on Grissom's face.  
  
"Sorry." He shrugged his shoulders, and grinned impishly down at her. "I wanted to catch you before you left."  
  
Sara waited for more information.  
  
"And?"  
  
"Would you like to go have some breakfast? . . .With me?" He looked like a smitten schoolboy, and the imagery was too irresistibly cute.  
  
"Yeah. I would, actually." She rose to meet his gaze, and fought the urge to pull him into a very job-inappropriate lip-lock.  
  
"Good." He turned to leave, and Sara shook her head, waiting patiently.  
  
"Grissom?"  
  
"Yes?" He turned abruptly at the door.  
  
"Where?"  
  
Gil Grissom was flustered. More flustered than he had ever been. He had been on dates before, but they were just dates. He didn't really feel any loss when they ended, or any real need to press for more. Most had been instigated by the woman he was seeing at the time after wearing him down. This was different. He wanted this to work, and it was the most likely not to. There were so many reasons this was stupid. There were so many possibilities for them both to be hurt, or for them to be caught. There was his age, his total lack of any real communication skills. . .and the minor detail that he was her supervisor.  
  
"Um, how about Denny's?"  
  
"Ah! The great land of 'Moon Over my Hammy?' Classy choice." She closed her locker, and followed him. She could hear Catherine now. The thought made her grin.  
  
"They do have some non-meat meals to choose from you know." He smiled back at her as he tried to walk calmly out to his car.  
  
Sara made her way to her own vehicle, and waited a few moments after he left before heading toward Denny's. The sneaking around was something she knew she wouldn't be able to put up with for very long. Even if things went great, the secrecy would wear on them both before long. She tried to put that thought aside for the tie, and concentrate on the here and now. Now, she was heading to breakfast with Grissom. He had asked her. He was pursuing her. The smile broadened on her face, and she turned up the radio and sang along. 


	5. and flights of angels sing thee to thy r...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 10:  
  
"So!" Catherine grinned at Sara, anticipating a good story.  
  
She was sorely disappointed, but not surprised when Sara took their new case file, and walked nonchalantly out of the conference room. Sara chose to smile, and walk straight ahead. She knew Catherine was fishing, and Sara planned on making her ask outright. Catherine gave an exasperated sigh, and hurried towards the SUV. Once safely buckled in, and accompanied by her cohort, she couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
"Spill it, Sidle!"  
  
Sara laughed at Catherine's inability to maintain patience where good gossip was involved. She actually enjoyed their 'girl-talk' though.  
  
"Geez! I bet you were a holy terror before your Christmas."  
  
"Still am. Now, did he take you someplace nice or what?"  
  
"I thought it was nice. Casual. Good service. Never had an empty coffee cup."  
  
"Denny's?!? He really took you to Denny's?" Catherine gasped. "Can I PLEASE give him a few tips? It would do nothing but benefit you, and in turn him as well." She winked at Sara.  
  
"Cat, it was nice. Honestly. He could take me to the damn city dump, and I would just be happy to be with him."  
  
"Whoa." She smiled, shook her head, and drove towards their crime scene. "You ready for this one?" Catherine pulled into the dusty construction site of a new casino on the edge of the desert.  
  
"What a waste of land." Sara hated seeing these huge casinos gobbling up the dessert landscape. Sara looked quickly over at Catherine, remembering now who it was that owned this particular piece of real estate.  
  
"I agree." Catherine felt no guilt for Sam Braun's sake. What he did was his own deal, and she was trying her best to distance herself and Lindsey from that part of her life. "Let's find O'Riley and the foreman."  
  
They walked across the gravel lot towards the men, and a half-collapsed tower of steel and concrete. Girders poked up precariously from the deep hole in the desert floor. A crane was in the process of removing beams from the wreckage.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Catherine ran up to the foreman, and pointed towards their crime scene.  
  
"Lady, this is MY site, and until you got a warrant that says otherwise, Braun's still the boss!" The overweight man in the bright yellow safety helmet scowled at Catherine and Sara.  
  
Sara looked at Detective O'Riley who was just as frustrated.  
  
"Sir, you can tell your man there to stand down, or I can arrest you for obstruction of justice." O'Riley was able to maintain a calm demeanor, but just barely.  
  
"Yer gonna have to arrest me then, because my orders came from the top. You don't say no to Sam Braun. It ain't healthy."  
  
Catherine winced slightly at the words. Sara edged forward.  
  
"That your walkie-talkie?" Sara pointed to the small, handheld radio sitting on his clipboard on the ground.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Before he could move, Sara grabbed the radio up, and called to the man on the crane to cease and desist per the boss's orders. O'Riley held the foreman back forcibly, and Catherine grinned.  
  
"Lady. . ."  
  
"Don't say it, Sir." O'Riley shook his head warningly at the man, who – to his credit – shut up, and followed him to the patrol car at the end of the lot.  
  
"Nice." Catherine looked down at Sara who was still kneeling beside the clipboard.  
  
"We should probably see what's left of our crime scene." She gave a cocky grin, and walked towards the wreckage.  
  
The site was quite large. An enormous, square subterranean region had been trenched out by the heavy equipment to form the future basement levels of the casino/hotel. The concrete base had been poured weeks ago, and the process of constructing the steel framework of the building had begun. O'Riley came up behind them with a huff.  
  
"Hmmph! He was actually relieved to be arrested. Now Braun can't blame him if you two find anything."  
  
"Yeah, well, what is it we're supposed to be finding?" Catherine was getting irritated. "The call was pretty vague. 445? Where's the bomb squad?"  
  
"I don't know anything about a bomb. Half the structure collapsed, and a few guys were hurt. We need to know if it was the fault of the builders, or if it was something else."  
  
"Aw. Love those. Right up there with Mysterious dude. 'Something else.' Did you question the workers who were present already?" Catherine smiled as O'Riley rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yep. Said they didn't see anything out of place. And, of course, they say there's not a damn thing wrong with the way they did the work."  
  
"Except for the fact that it fell on them." Sara smiled, and walked down the dirt ramp that led down into the structure.  
  
"Where's the building inspector?" Catherine looked around. She was somewhat dreading seeing him again, but she was an adult.  
  
"He left a few minutes before you got here. Said he'd be back after a dinner break." He handed Catherine the preliminary report of the structural inspection. "Not much to see. He seemed pretty sure it was structural integrity problem. Put too much weight on without bracing it properly."  
  
"We'll see for ourselves." Catherine looked down into the trench for Sara.  
  
"Sara? Where'd you go to?" She walked down the ramp in search of her colleague.  
  
"Uh, Catherine? You might want to get O'Riley down here." Sara's head popped up from under a girder, causing Catherine to jump.  
  
"What'd you find?"  
  
Sara held up a gloved hand covered in blood.  
  
"Something you never want to bump into in a dark crawl space." As she pulled herself up out of the rubble, Catherine could see Sara had blood all over her knees as well. Catherine was relieved when she realized for certain that the blood wasn't Sara's.  
  
"Found a dead body under there. And unless they work blind-folded, I'd say it was put there prior to the 'accident.'" Sara looked down at her clothing in disgust.  
  
"So, you just thought you'd go crawl under a recently collapsed structure without a helmet or anything? I didn't even know where you were!" Catherine's eyes were wide with shock at the lapse of common sense Sara had displayed. Then she heard it.  
  
"Rowr?" A soft, definitely feline sound came from beneath the wreckage. Sara looked up a bit sheepishly then turned back to the structure, bent down, cleared her throat, and returned to her rescue mission.  
  
"Here, kitty! Kitty, kitty!" She patted the ground hopefully. The soft mewing continued, getting louder gradually as the kitten made its way towards the two women. Catherine kneeled down so as not to frighten the critter who was now peeking out from under an I-beam. It couldn't have been more than a few months old. The black ball of fuzz waddled slowly over to Sara's outstretched arms. She grabbed it up as soon as she was able, and made her way back up the ramp. Once at the top, O'Riley looked the two CSI's over curiously.  
  
"Find anything?"  
  
"More than she bargained for." Catherine laughed, and took the kitten out of Sara's hands as Sara headed to the Tahoe to process her clothing for trace.  
  
"Who's your friend?" O'Riley pointed his pen at the kitten, and grinned.  
  
"Not sure yet, but I think Sara's rent just went up." Catherine snuggled the fuzzy kitten, trying not to make ridiculous noises at it in front of the detective. "You might want to call the coroner. We've got at least one body down there, and it doesn't look like an accident." Sara returned wearing the spare jumpsuit from the back of the SUV, and carrying the camera.  
  
"I'll go radio it in." He left them standing there, and headed for his car. "I'll send a couple of officers to watch the site."  
  
"Hey." Sara retrieved the kitten, and looked at Catherine questioningly.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You going to be ok on this case? I mean, this is Braun's worksite." There was no need tiptoeing around the elephant.  
  
"Until we find anything to tie him into this, I don't see it being a problem." Catherine took in a deep breath.  
  
"And if we do?"  
  
"I'll tell Grissom I'm off the case myself." She hoped Sara would understand.  
  
"Ok. What am I going to do with this little guy now?" She let the kitten settle into the large pocket on her top, and smiled as he played with a stray strand of her hair.  
  
"How about we run him back to your place, grab something to eat, then get back here. David and the building inspector should be here by then, and we can continue our investigation. O'Riley has a few guys watching the site."  
  
Sara hated the idea of leaving the scene, but it wasn't going anywhere, and they couldn't do anymore until they could reach the body anyhow.  
  
"Sounds like a plan. We'll have to make a pit stop for a few things." Sara didn't even have to think about it. She was keeping this little guy.  
  
"Got a name for him yet?" Catherine grabbed both their kits, as they headed back to the SUV.  
  
"Not yet." She smiled as she got into the passenger seat, still cuddling the kitten to her chest.  
  
"Well he needs a more masculine name than 'kitty.' Have you ever had a cat before?"  
  
"Growing up, we had an orange cat at the Inn. His name was George."  
  
"George? Please don't name that sweet kitten George." Catherine smirked, and tried to keep her eyes on the road, and off the fidgeting kitten.  
  
"I'll have to think about it, and come up with something good. I think names are important. They should have a good meaning."  
  
"Well, he's solid black, fuzzy, and we found him in a collapsed building. Is there a name that means all that?"  
  
"I'll have to look in my baby names book."  
  
Catherine nearly drove off the road.  
  
"Hey! Kitty on board. Watch it!" Sara put a hand protectively over the cat's head.  
  
"You have a Baby names book?" Catherine had to have this one explained.  
  
"It was a gag gift from my brother when I graduated from Harvard."  
  
"Trying to tell you something?"  
  
"Something like that." Sara frowned.  
  
TBC 


	6. O, beauty, till now I never knew thee

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 11:  
  
As Catherine waited in the Tahoe, Sara ran around her small, studio apartment putting down cat food bowls, and litter pans. She tried her best to 'kitty-proof' her abode before gently hugging the kitten, and settling him in on her bed. She hated leaving him alone in her apartment, but it had to be safer than where he came from. She ran down the stairs, out the door, and flung open the car door in a rush to get back to the scene.  
  
"Relax. We've still got time. O'Riley hasn't paged me so the inspector isn't even there yet." Catherine started the car back up, and pulled out of the complex.  
  
It was a slow ride back with the mid-morning traffic in downtown Las Vegas at a near standstill.  
  
"I can't believe you have an apartment that's nearly downtown, and you never go to any shows or casinos." Catherine shook her head.  
  
"I didn't know anything about the area when I was hunting for a place online. I just looked up affordable places that were within jogging distance from work." Sara studied the crowds outside the various tourist attractions as they drove by.  
  
"Well, that's just sad." Catherine smirked. It was fun getting Sara talking. Might as well learn what she could while it lasted.  
  
"I went to a few shows when I first got here." Sara added defensively. "Kinda looses it's glamour after a few cases involving show girls and magic acts." She shrugged.  
  
"Yeah. I guess so. Ever catch any concerts at least?" Catherine startled Sara by honking at a little old man that cut her off.  
  
"Concerts are at night. Haven't really had time." Sara tightened her seatbelt.  
  
"Well, maybe that's something you and Grissom could do on a night off."  
  
Sara laughed. The idea of going to a rock concert with Gil Grissom seemed so far fetched. Neither of them found being in crowds enjoyable, and she doubted very much they had similar tastes in music. She'd only ever heard him listening to classical at work. And he really freaked her out with his knowledge of show tunes at a crime scene recently.  
  
"Finally!" Catherine gave a sigh of relief as the traffic opened up, allowing them to get off on the highway, and head over to the construction site.  
  
As they drove up, kicking up a cloud of smoke in their wake, Catherine spotted O'Riley, David and the building inspector standing near the dirt ramp.  
  
"'Bout time you ladies got here." O'Riley gave Catherine a smile that said he wasn't truly upset.  
  
"What've we got?" Sara slung her camera around her shoulder, and pulled on a pair of sturdy working gloves.  
  
"We're having trouble getting to the body. If we move the beam that's pinning him down, the whole structure could collapse." David gave the two CSI's a frustrated grin.  
  
"Is it safe to scoot in there and get some photos at least?" Sara strapped on her hard hat, and tightened the chin strap expectantly.  
  
"Should be ok. Always checking' my handiwork, eh, Cath?" The inspector winked at Catherine, and Sara looked at the two of them before shaking her head, and returning to the crime scene.  
  
"Only when I have to. How've you been?"  
  
O'Riley took this as his signal to go check on his men, and David followed Sara down to the site.  
  
"You sure know how to get rid of folks, Cath." He smiled.  
  
"Apparently too well. What'd you find out about the steel beams? Any sign yet of tampering?" She forced the subject back to work, making it clear she was on the clock.  
  
"Ah, yeah. Looks like somebody placed explosives at a few points along the structure where the load is heaviest, and the stress on the beam is more unstable. Since they didn't have any floors or walls up yet on the ground floor, they didn't yet have all the safety reinforcement beams welded in place yet. They weren't going against code. The workers did everything they were supposed to."  
  
"And somebody took advantage of that to try to hide a body." She looked over the blueprints he handed her carefully, noting the points he had marked in red detailing where explosives had likely been placed.  
  
"Whoever did this knows his structural engineering. A good demolitionist would be needed. Braun got any of those on his payroll?"  
  
Catherine winced. She had to stay objective, or she had to pull herself off this case. She was treading a very fine line ethically, and she knew Grissom would not be happy when he found out. Her 'father' was going to be a part of her life whether she wanted him in it or not.  
  
"Guess we'll find out. Keep Sara posted with your findings. She's heading this investigation. Sara Sidle." Catherine wrote Sara's name on his drawings for him, and handed them back.  
  
"What? You think our past is going to cause trouble with this case?" He narrowed his eyes and studied her face.  
  
"No. That's not it at all. It's been her case all along." Catherine lied. "I have another case to follow up on. Keep her posted. And don't try anything funny. She's got a very jealous boyfriend." Catherine grimaced as she turned to find Sara and David.  
  
"You Ok in there, Sara?" David was huddled down, looking into the wreckage as Catherine came up from behind.  
  
"How's it going?" She kneeled down beside him, and peered into the near darkness to see the light from Sara's headlamp darting around twisted steel beams.  
  
"Slow. It's a mess. Might not be much left once they finally get him out. Our best bet now is getting photos, and trace."  
  
"Ha!" Sara smiled triumphantly, as she crawled from the opening covered in dust, and bloody dirt. She opened up her kit to show off the nearly clean set of prints she was able to get from the victim's right hand.  
  
"Nice work!" Catherine grinned. "We better get this back to the lab for Greg. Might need him to help you out here as well. It'll be good training for him if Grissom will allow it."  
  
"What about you?" Sara wiped her face off on her sleeve, and deposited her kit in the back of the SUV.  
  
"I think this is officially too close to home. I've legally admitted to being Sam Braun's biological daughter. If it turns out he had anything to do with this, or even if he doesn't it'll look like departmental favoritism. Worse, important evidence could get thrown out."  
  
Sara was floored. She'd known Catherine had been close to Braun, but she didn't realize how close.  
  
"Ok. You want to tell Grissom, or should I?"  
  
"Let me tell him." She sighed. She didn't want Gil accusing her of being unethical again.  
  
"Well, I'll let you tell Greg he's working on this too." Sara grinned. Greg's appreciation might counter any negative confrontations with Grissom.  
  
"Thanks. He'll probably promise me his first born again."  
  
TBC 


	7. Alas, poor world, what treasure hast tho...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 12:  
  
Sara stood over the coffee machine trying to psychically will it to perk faster.  
  
"Deep thoughts?" Grissom had managed to get right next to her without her realizing.  
  
"Very." She smiled. Having him stand so close to her would have made them both uncomfortable just a few days prior. Now, it just made her smile broaden.  
  
"Catherine filled me in on the case you were working on. Will you need any help?" He studied her face.  
  
"Greg should be enough for now. There's already an explosives expert, a building inspector, and O'Riley to deal with." She poured a cup of coffee, and added more than the average dose of sugar.  
  
"Who's checking the evidence?"  
  
"Jacqui's got the prints, and Archie is going over the photos from the crime scene. It's pretty well covered."  
  
"Good. Nice work. . . Cath tells me you acquired a new friend at the work site." Grissom gave her a very amused look.  
  
"Yeah. How do you feel about cats?" She hadn't thought to wonder if he was allergic.  
  
"I've never had any trouble with them." He didn't sound completely convincing.  
  
"You prefer eight-legged creepy crawlers with venom?"  
  
"I prefer things that aren't clingy." He said it without realizing how the woman he was currently dating might interpret it.  
  
"Ah. So you don't like warm-blooded animals that might need you?" She cocked an eyebrow at him accusingly.  
  
Grissom winced.  
  
"I'm sure I'll like your cat. If he likes you he must have good taste." He grinned, and hoped he was in the clear.  
  
"Smooth, Grissom." Sara chuckled, drank down the last of her coffee, and went in search of Greg.  
  
As she rounded the corner, Sara spotted Jacqui through the glass walled prints lab waving at her to come in.  
  
"Got a hit on your prints from the construction site." She handed the page to Sara. "Where's Catherine? I thought she was on this one too?"  
  
"She got pulled onto another case." Sara didn't look up from the page as she spoke.  
  
"Is this for sure?" She finally looked up at Jacqui.  
  
"Yep. It's as perfect a match as you get."  
  
Sara wasn't one to ever doubt Jacqui's skills when it came to interpreting finger prints, but this case just got a little wilder.  
  
"Have you seen Greg around?" She looked towards the empty DNA lab.  
  
"He said he was going to get ready for the field. He was skipping." Jacqui smirked, and went back to her backlogged pile of jobs.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
As Sara entered the locker room, she was met by Greg crooning "fly me to the moon" loudly and off key.  
  
"I take it you've spoken with Catherine?" Sara grinned.  
  
"Yup! I'm all yours." He batted his eyes at her for effect.  
  
"What did you find out from the blood samples? Does it all back up the finding Jacqui got from the prints?"  
  
"Pretty freaky huh? Either Braun's youngest son has a twin, or Junior broke out of Statesville. Either way he's out dead guy."  
  
Sara sighed. It suddenly hit her that the man in that wreckage was Catherine's brother. She was thankful Catherine had chosen to take herself off the case rather than have to be taken off. She remembered the fiasco dealing with Eddie's case.  
  
"Not that I doubt you at all, but we are going to have to document this case to the letter. If Braun is involved we can't let him get away again."  
  
Greg blanched a bit more than Sara had expected. She hadn't been calling his talents into question.  
  
"You heard about that huh?" Greg frowned.  
  
"Heard about what, Greg?"  
  
"Uh. . .nothing important." He sat up, feeling foolish. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Go back over all the tests, make sure your paperwork is airtight, documenting every step. When you're done, come find me at the crime scene. I'll get you directions. Be sure to bring your hard hat, and coveralls." Sara patted him on the shoulder, and headed out. Greg smacked himself in the forehead for almost blowing Cath's confidence in him.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
It was still light out when Sara arrived at the crime scene. She flashed her ID to the cops at the gate, and pulled the Tahoe around to the site. She had expected the crew to still be there removing rubble, but it was completely quiet. Making her way down the earthen ramp, she noted that hardly any of the beams had been removed. So much for relying on contractors. The structure still loomed ominously above her. She pulled out her kit, and flashlight, and perused the files while waiting for Greg. After about ten minutes, she heard footsteps coming down the ramp. Surely Greg didn't think he was done writing his report that quickly?  
  
"'Scuse me?" A gruff, Texan voice called out to her. The sun had begun to descend below the horizon, and was inline with her sight causing the man to be nothing but a blur on the horizon. "You the detective on this case?" He made his way closer. She could see that he wore a hard hat, and guessed he was part of the work crew.  
  
"I'm the crime scene investigator. Can I help you?" She started to stand up, but he held something up that she recognized too late to be a gun.  
  
"Not anymore." His voice was barely audible before she heard the shot, and fell back astonished.  
  
Sara fell back against the rubble in complete shock over what had just occurred. She felt the blood begin to seep through her shirt, and held her hand to her side. She could merely lay there dazed as three men moved past her from out of the wreckage, dragging the body with them. Before she past out, she could just make out the profile of a grinning Sam Braun.  
  
TBC 


	8. Have patience, and endure

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 13:  
  
"Bad boys, Bad boys! Whatcha gonna do. . ." Greg patted the steering wheel as he drove up to the site. As he approached the dirt road off the highway, he saw that there were already a swarm of flashing lights, and ambulances. He watched from the opened gate as the medics brought an occupied gurney up from the site.  
  
"What the hell?" He sped over the gravel road, kicking up rocks and sand, screeching to a halt next to O'Riley's Crown Victoria.  
  
"Hey!" O'Riley scowled at Greg as he approached, and thrust a finger into his chest. "When are you guys gonna learn not to leave each other alone at a crime scene?"  
  
Greg paled, and brushed by the large detective towards the ambulance.  
  
"Sara?" He rushed forward to the gurney they were loading onto the back of the truck. Sara's face was white as a sheet, and she wasn't moving.  
  
"What happened?" He pulled one of the medics aside.  
  
"Gunshot wound to the abdomen." It was all he said before jumping up in the truck beside the gurney, and closing the doors behind him.  
  
Greg stumbled backwards into Detective O'Riley. He turned abruptly, and O'Riley could tell it wasn't time for a lecture. Greg ran to the side of the road and threw up. He wiped his face, and looked back at the cops.  
  
"Where the hell were you guys? She told me you'd be guarding the crime scene. How'd she end up alone down there?"  
  
Greg lowered his head between his knees to try to calm the nausea and dizziness he was feeling. He pulled himself together, and stood up straight. One of the officers nearest O'Riley acted like he was going to belt Greg, but O'Riley held him back.  
  
"Easy! He's right about that. Where were you guys?" The detective turned an angry glare towards his two men. The shorter, a young, blond officer threw his hands in the air.  
  
"What? So now we gotta baby-sit these nerds too? I was guarding the gate like I was told." Officer Johnson, as his name stated, looked ready for a fight.  
  
"I was down by the crime scene all day. Then I got a call from dispatch telling me to meet O'Riley at the gate." The taller, dark-haired man looked sorrowfully back towards the fallen structure. "I feel horrible about what happened, but I was just following orders. I never even saw her arrive."  
  
O'Riley turned towards the taller officer.  
  
"I never asked for you to meet me at the gate. You saying dispatch told you to?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Greg looked at the three men who had obviously been fooled. Anyone with an all-mode amateur radio could broadcast, albeit illegally, on the police frequencies.  
  
"Man, I gotta call Grissom, and go to the hospital." Greg shook his head, and ran back to his car.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
"Grissom." Grissom leaned back in his office chair as he answered his cell phone.  
  
"Gris, it's Greg. I'm on my way to the county hospital. Sara got shot."  
  
Grissom wasn't certain he had heard correctly. He prayed he had not.  
  
"Greg?" He stood, grabbing his jacket as he walked. "I'm on my way."  
  
Grissom walked briskly through the halls, and out of the building; not bothering to sign out. He would not allow himself to play any scenarios in his mind. He didn't have the facts, and without those everything was pure conjecture. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. He could feel it on the verge of breaking. The emotions were there. No matter how much he tried to appear aloof, he was only human. The hospital was mercifully close to the labs, and within ten minutes, Grissom was approaching the ER flashing his ID, and requesting to be led to his CSI. He knew that Sara had placed him as her emergency contact, but he was prepared to fight for his right to be near her.  
  
"Sir? Are you here for Miss Sidle?" A slender man with a shaved head, looking not more than thirty, approached Grissom.  
  
"Yes. How is she?"  
  
"She's in the trauma ward now. She suffered a gunshot wound to her lower abdomen. She was in severe hemorrhagic shock when she arrived. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Sir?" He placed a hand on Grissom's arm noting the dazed expression on Gil's face.  
  
"Yes." He looked down the hall at the closed wards.  
  
"They're doing their best for her. We had to resuscitate her once already, but she seems to be stabilizing. I'll have the doctor come see you as soon as she's out of surgery."  
  
Grissom merely nodded as the young resident turned back towards the operating rooms. He walked as if in a daze to the waiting area, and took a seat. Greg turned the corner from the restrooms, and spotted Grissom sitting alone with his head in his hands.  
  
"Gris?" Greg took a seat beside him.  
  
"Not now, Greg. Please. Just not right now." Grissom never even looked up.  
  
"Is there anything I can do?" Greg's voice was soft, and sincere.  
  
Grissom finally looked up at him. His eyes were red, threatening to shed tears at any given moment.  
  
"Yes. You can go back to the lab, and tell the rest of the team that this is our number one case. There are no other cases." Grissom returned to studying the floor tiles as Greg stood to leave.  
  
"She'll make it, Gris." It was all he could say. Greg walked back out towards his BMW, and raced back towards the labs.  
  
TBC 


	9. Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbol

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
A/N: Short, but I typed out the beginning of my pages so I wouldn't leave you folks hanging THAT bad while I have to go away for some days.  
  
Chapter 14:  
  
Catherine stood in front of Sara's apartment door with shaky hands as she tried the different keys in the lock. Finally finding the correct one, she gave the door a hard push. She groped for the light switch, quickly closing the door behind her in case any furballs chose to scurry out.  
  
"Here kitty, kitty." Catherine knelt on the hardwood floors, and patted the ground to attract the critter. After a few minutes of that, she gave up, and glanced around at her surroundings. Small. She couldn't believe how small Sara's place was. It was much more colorful, and well-decorated than she had expected. However, it was a tiny studio apartment with the bed, TV, and desk all in one small room. The kitchen was off to the right, and a bathroom was hidden off a small hallway. She quickly changed the cat's water bowl, emptied the litter, and put out fresh food. Being in Sara's home felt odd, like she was trespassing. Sara may have been a bit friendlier with her since they'd bumped into each other at the thrift store, but she was still a very private person.  
  
"Rowr?"  
  
Catherine glanced over at the bed. Snuggled safely between two pillows, like royalty, was a black furball. Two bright yellow orbs blinked at her as she smiled.  
  
"I have a feeling you are going to be a handful, Mister." Catherine picked the kitten up, and scratched under his chin as it purred. She sat down on the bed, and wept quietly. She prayed Sam had nothing to do with this, but if he did. . . she would sell a kidney if she had to to pay him back every cent he had given her. She hadn't yet spent much of it anyhow.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Sara." Catherine hugged the kitten, and left the apartment.  
  
~-~-~-  
  
"Sir?" A doctor gently tapped Grissom's shoulder, waking him from his exhaustion-induced slumber.  
  
"Sir, I thought you'd like to know Miss Sidle made it through the operation quite well." He waited for that to register with Grissom before he continued. "She's not going to be able to have visitors for a few days, but she is stable, and should pull through just fine. She lost a lot of blood, but she was very lucky. Had the bullet gone just millimeters in either direction, we'd still be in there working."  
  
"Can I have the bullet?"  
  
This shocked the surgeon at first until her remembered who he was dealing with. Usually the only things family wants to know is when they can see their loved ones.  
  
"Yes. And her clothing was bagged as well for you. We have more practice at this than I like to admit." The man frowned, and turned to go.  
  
"Doctor?" Grissom caught the man by his arm. "Thank you."  
  
TBC 


	10. Thy eternal summer shall not fade

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 15:  
  
Greg raced up to Catherine as he spotted her in the hall.  
  
"Catherine!" He caught up to her quickly as she spun to meet him.  
  
"I just heard Sara's in the clear. Grissom paged me from the hospital. Brass just brought the bullet in, and her clothes." Greg waited for his next orders, eager to help in any way possible.  
  
Catherine stared at him a moment before replying.  
  
"So Bobbie's running a check on the bullet right? I want Bobby on it. Where's Warrick? He's the lead on this case until Grissom gets back. And you and I will go over the clothes. Grissom's staying at the hospital with Sara." Catherine was relieved, but completely on stress overdrive.  
  
Greg nodded.  
  
"Nick and Warrick are at the crime scene with O'Riley." He followed her towards the evidence room. "Why aren't you taking lead?"  
  
She stopped, and gave him a look.  
  
"Ohhhh! Right. Nevermind. Sorry, Catherine." He continued following behind her, mentally smacking himself in the head.  
  
~-~-~-~-  
  
Gil Grissom sat in the only chair in the machine-crowded hospital room. It was dark and private, but sterile in a way only hospitals and morgues associated with. He studied her features, as she lay there unconscious. Every few moments, he found himself studying her chest just to make certain it rose and lowered with steady breaths. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there. His cell was off per hospital orders, and his pager was in the Tahoe. He had left it there after going out to fill Greg and the others in on the latest news. He heard a rustling, and looked towards the bed. Sara shifted a bit. Grissom walked over to her side, and grasped her hand. It had been two days, and now he stood praying she would just open her eyes. He squeezed her hand gently, and brushed the hair away from her forehead. She still looked so pale. As he lingered near her brow, he felt her move beneath his hand. He pulled it away as if he were burnt, and leaned in closer. Sara's eyes slowly fluttered open. She blinked the daze from her sight, and looked towards the source of warmth she had just felt.  
  
"Sara? Hon'. . .you're gonna be alright." He grasped her hand in his, and rubbed the top gently with his thumb. He felt almost overwhelmed with relief.  
  
Sara made an effort to sit up, but Grissom stopped her.  
  
"Careful. You probably don't want to try that yet. You were shot in the midsection." His hand returned to gently rubbing her forehead. "How are you feeling? Are you in too much pain? I'll call the doctor in." He made a movement for the call button, but Sara squeezed his hand.  
  
"Gris?" Her voice was hoarse, and weak. She couldn't think of what else to say. She pulled his arm in towards her side, hugging onto him for dear life. The last thing she remembered before this moment was the sadistic grin on Sam Braun's face. She shuddered.  
  
"Sara? Are you in pain?" Grissom leaned in, trying to avoid placing any weight on her.  
  
"It was Braun, Gris." She looked Grissom straight in the eyes before leaning back on her pillow. The pain was swelling in her side, and she wanted that painkiller now.  
  
"I'll get the doctor. Hold tight, Hon'."  
  
Grissom walked briskly towards the nurses' station, and requested Sara's doctor and something for her pain. Within minutes, the nurse arrived with a shot to add to her IV drip.  
  
"Sara? Do you think you're up to making a statement now?" He knew the sooner they did this the better. She seemed able to remember most of what happened.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good. I'll call O'Riley. I'll wait till he gets here, but then I need to go brief the team for a few hours."  
  
Sara looked up at him, and smiled. He was giving an excuse for doing his job. He felt he had to explain why he was leaving, and she found that touching somehow. And from the looks of his beard and clothes, he hadn't been home in a few days.  
  
"Grissom?" Sara squeezed his hand again.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I get it." She smiled, and let his hand go.  
  
He smiled back at her, and bent down to place a kiss on her forehead.  
  
"I'll be back soon." He reluctantly left her alone with the nurse and doctor.  
  
TBC 


	11. Who can control his fate

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 16:  
  
Nick stood in the doorway to Sara's room holding a vase of coral roses.  
  
"Hey there, Tough guy." Nick called to her, bringing a broad grin to her face.  
  
"Hey. Wow!" She spotted the roses as he meandered over to her dresser. "Those are amazing."  
  
"From me, Warrick and Greg. How ya feelin'?" Nick gently set the flowers down, and scooted a chair up closer to her bedside.  
  
"Better today." In truth, she felt like hell. The slightest movement brought a grimace of pain, but she didn't like the idea of being drugged to the point of numbness. She needed to feel something, and if pain was what it took to realize she was alive, then so be it.  
  
"O'Riley really ripped those cops a new one at the site, from what I heard." He shook his head. "Brass has Braun in for questioning right now."  
  
Sara edged herself up into a sitting position. Her pain was evident.  
  
"Whoa there, Sar'. Here." He worked her second pillow in behind her for support. "Grissom is in with Brass for the interrogation." Nick took a deep breath. He wasn't certain how to continue without upsetting Sara, but any witness against Sam Braun had a habit of winding up dead. Grissom had asked Nick to stay with her until his return. Sara wasn't liable to accept a babysitter without a fight. Nick had requested a buddy of his on the force to guard her room personally. He knew he could trust Officer Roberts. The two cops from the site were under investigation as well, and Nick wasn't taking any chances.  
  
"They don't know how, but someone leaked to the press that you were up and naming names." He clinched his jaw, and frowned.  
  
"Great." Sara groaned more from the situation than from any pain.  
  
"I've got a guy posted outside of your room, and I'm here till Gris gets back. Go ahead and complain now 'cause we're not leaving you alone for a second until this case is closed and Braun's behind bars." He folded his arms authoritatively, expecting an argument.  
  
"Ok. When did Grissom say he'd be here?"  
  
Nick was momentarily speechless.  
  
"Uh, well that depends on how the questioning goes. Prolly in another few hours."  
  
"How's Catherine doing?" Catherine was the only one of the group who hadn't yet been to see her. She understood why. She would feel guilty given similar circumstances too, but it wasn't Catherine's fault. The only person Sara blamed was Sam Braun.  
  
Nick shrugged.  
  
"She's been doing the paperwork, and running tests. She's really worried that her past relationship with Braun could cause trouble. I'll tell her you're doing fine. She should be here tomorrow. We decided to take shifts."  
  
"What? With me? That's crazy." She was beginning to get agitated now. She didn't want the whole nightshift standing guard over her sickbed. "There's an officer right outside the door. That's overkill as it is."  
  
"Sara. This is non-negotiable." Nick stood firm.  
  
"I could always sign myself out." She rose up a bit too suddenly in anger only to come crashing back to the bed in agony.  
  
Nick shook his head, and sighed. Sara was one stubborn woman, but she wasn't invincible. Neither was he. If he allowed her to go off on her own, Grissom would have his hide.  
  
"It's just for a few days." He carefully gave her shoulder a pat.  
  
"So you guys are forced to spend hours with me here in this little room?" Mortification was beginning to sink into the very depths of Sara's stomach.  
  
"I can think of worse assignments. Yeah, and be warned. . .Greg said something about shaving cream and duck tape if you tried to make a break for it." Nick chuckled at her as she pouted. "Is there anything I can bring you? Any contraband food, or magazines? Books?"  
  
A panic-stricken expression came across Sara's face as she suddenly remembered someone of the fuzzy persuasion.  
  
"Oh, no! Nick! My kitten! He's been all alone for like three days now!" She looked ready to leap up again, as Nick held up his hands in a 'calm down' gesture.  
  
"Relax. Catherine's been taking care of the little guy. She's been watering your plants too." He grinned.  
  
"Thank goodness. I can't believe I just thought about him. I'm a horrible pet owner." Sara raised her hand to attempt to rub away her tension headache.  
  
"I wouldn't say that. I think being unconscious kinda puts you in the clear Karma-wise." Nick was pleased to hear Sara in true 'Sara' form; arguing her point, being stubborn. He didn't like dwelling on the 'what-ifs' of the past week.  
  
They chatted about a few older cases, and about the night at the pub the previous week until Grissom arrived a few hours later. He stood outside the door, and took in a deep breath.  
  
"Ok, Nicky. My turn at the wheel." He smiled at the two of them as he entered, and pulled a small bundle of books from his briefcase.  
  
"Later, Guys." Nick winked at Sara, and took his leave quickly.  
  
Sara eyed the books with great curiosity.  
  
"What'd you bring me?"  
  
"Who says these are for you? Maybe I didn't want to be bored." He tried to hold his deadpan voice, but the last words quivered with held in laughter, and his eyes couldn't hide his smile.  
  
"Right." She smiled. "Seriously. What'd you bring me?"  
  
"I've got 'The Catcher in the Rye,' 'Murder by the Numbers,' 'Deception Point,' and my personal favorite. . .'Circle of Friends." He grinned, and handed over the books. "It's the best the gift store had to offer."  
  
"They had 'Catcher in the Rye' at a hospital gift shop?" Sara laughed out loud, causing her to wince.  
  
Grissom just smirked, and sat down beside her.  
  
"You're not going to discuss the interrogation with me, are you?" She accused.  
  
"Hadn't planned on it." He grasped her hand, and began massaging it again with his thumb.  
  
"Gris, I'd like to know what's going on. We should have plenty of evidence to link Braun to the site, and my eyewitness account should make a huge difference to the courts. You've got the bullets. All we need is to find the gun."  
  
"Oh, is that all?" He tried not to sound condescending. He hadn't wanted to upset Sara. Especially not while she was obviously still in so much pain. "Problem is, Braun already admitted to being at the scene. He's claiming he never saw you there, never shot any guns, and that he was too busy chasing down some guys trying to steal his dead son's body. He has credible witnesses backing him up."  
  
Sara could feel her head starting to pound, and her vision getting blurry. She leaned back against her pillow, and took deep breaths. She thought they had him. She had seen this kind of thing before in cases, and it always made her furious what money and a big name could buy you in Vegas. This time, however, it was her at the receiving end. She closed her eyes as she spoke in a low and shaken voice.  
  
"What about the two cops? They were there. They had to have seen a car peel out of there. They had to have seen something!" Her eyes remained tightly closed as she continued to try to calm the roar in her ears, and the blur of her sight. Grissom noticed, and checked her monitors.  
  
"Hon, it'll be ok. We will find something. There's always something left behind. No one's perfect." He gently caressed her arm, and leaned his head against her shoulder on the pillow. He could feel her start to relax gradually. She drifted off to sleep as he leaned down, and placed a single kiss on her forehead.  
  
TBC 


	12. Honest plain words best pierce the ear

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
A/N: Some mild spoilers from Lady Heather's Box of Season 3 fame. And I was asked where I get my chapter titles? That would be Willy (the bard) Shakespeare. He copied the Greeks, we copy him. Who's gonna copy us? The chain seems to be going downhill from there. Hehehe!  
  
Chapter 17:  
  
Sara awoke to the sound of a distant heavy metal band pounding away at what could be a melody. She blinked a few times, and turned towards the noise. Greg sat opposite her bed, bobbing his head with his eyes closed. Upon closer inspection, Sara noted the ear bud headphone cords running down either side of his head. She smiled. At least she wasn't duct taped to the bed yet. She decided to wait and see how long it would take Greg to realize she was awake. Studying Greg was not an unpleasant way to pass time. He was a good-looking guy, had an amusing T-shirt on proclaiming "Virginia is for Lovers," and seemed deeply involved in the harsh music flowing into his brain at well over 80 decibels.  
  
"Doh!" Greg jumped when he noted he was being watched. "How long have you been awake?" He plucked the ear buds from his ears, and grinned.  
  
"Long enough to know you are going to be deaf before you turn 30."  
  
"Well then I better turn my music up, and enjoy it for the next two years." Greg leaned forward, and pulled something from his bag.  
  
"Oh! I totally take bad anything bad I ever sad about you." Sara eyed the coffee thermos adoringly.  
  
"As I recall, you said you would teach me more if I kept your thermoses of quality java coming." Greg passed Sara a mug of coffee.  
  
"Watch and learn, Grasshopper." Sara held the steaming mug under her nose, and inhaled deeply. "You know I haven't had any coffee in four days?"  
  
"Aside from that frightening fact, how are you feeling?" Greg sat the thermos on her bed stand.  
  
"Better today. Any news for me?" She cut the crap, and went for what she really wanted to know.  
  
"Nothing you don't already know." Greg stretched the truth. He wasn't about to be the one to tell her the news about Braun. "I heard you get to go home today." He handed her a new Forensics Journal from the lab break room.  
  
"Yeah. Hope my kitten recognizes me." She smiled at the thought of not going home to an empty apartment.  
  
"Yeah! So? Did you come up with a name yet? 'Cause I have some options for you." Greg beamed. "OK. How 'bout 'Warlock'? He's jet black right? Or 'Devil'? It's gotta be a cool name."  
  
"Thanks, Greg, but I have an idea already." Then Sara realized she had another question for her favorite lab rat. "By the way, Greg. . .you never told me much about when you worked in Frisco at the same time I did. Seems like there's more of a story there." She wasn't usually much for small talk, but she was bored, and honestly intrigued.  
  
Greg cleared his throat, and fidgeted with his jacket.  
  
"Not much to tell. I saw you around. You were hard not to notice. You were the only one around there who put in more hours than the coroner." Greg chuckled.  
  
"And you never said hi, or anything? I would've remembered you if you had." She remembered her time back in San Francisco. She could've used a friend back then.  
  
"Guess I should have." He frowned. "I was a little intimidated, to be honest. And then one time when I saw you outside, I was gonna say hi, but then I noticed you were. . ." Greg stopped. He didn't want to embarrass Sara.  
  
"What? Was I in a hurry or something?"  
  
"Uh, no. I wasn't trying to spy on you, or anything. I just happened to be there. You were crying. You sat down on the curb out by the back lot, and you were crying. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't think you wanted anyone to see you, so I went back inside before you saw me." Greg hung his head, and shook it. When it came to girls he was not shy. When it came to girls he didn't know sitting in a parking lot crying? Well, that was not his strong suit.  
  
"Oh. Sorry."  
  
"Why are you sorry? I ran some of the tests on that case. It wasn't till later that I heard it was a friend of yours. I would've cried too." Greg smiled reassuringly at her.  
  
"Thanks." She studied him for a moment. This was why she never tried to get into conversations with people on purpose. After a few sentences, the witty comebacks and snappy one-liners were used up. After that, there was just awkward silence. Luckily, today the silence was broken.  
  
"Knock, knock!" Catherine stood at the doorway with an armload of books.  
  
"Geez! Hope you're a speed reader." Greg laughed as he noticed the amount of reading material Sara was accumulating.  
  
"See ya later, Greggo. Thanks again." Sara raised her mug to him as he left.  
  
"So! Guess I'm your chauffer for today." Catherine sat a piece of luggage down on the chair, and surveyed the room. She was nervous. Sara needed to know what was going on with their case, and she decided she would be the one to tell her. Grissom reluctantly agreed.  
  
"Ah! Thank goodness!" Sara sat carefully up in bed.  
  
"I brought you some clothes." She handed Sara a bag. "Your cat is one spoiled little kitty. He only leaves your bed to chase my feet while I'm trying to water plants, and to eat. He's there every time I check in on him."  
  
Sara smiled.  
  
"I really appreciate it, Cat. You didn't have to do all that." Sara grabbed up the clothes, and made her way carefully to the restroom to change.  
  
"Yeah I did. Besides, I brought Lindsey up once, and she hasn't stopped pestering me for a kitten. I promised her visiting rights to yours." Catherine grinned, but was aware that she would have to tell Sara about Braun sooner or later.  
  
"Sara?" She called through the door. A moment later, Sara reappeared wearing baggy jeans, and a loose Harvard t-shirt. It wouldn't do to wear tight clothes with an injured midsection.  
  
"Yeah?" Sara sat back down, tired by the exertion of moving around on pain meds.  
  
"There's news on the case, and I wanted you to hear it form me." She sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
Sara took a deep breath, and let it out her nose; much like an angry bull about to charge.  
  
"He's getting off, isn't he?" Sara shook her head, and clinched her jaw in anger.  
  
"Not if we can help it, right? But he's worked up a good case for himself. Unfortunately, the general public loves him, and most juries will too. He can be a real charmer." Catherine winced at the fury in Sara's gaze. She knew it wasn't aimed at her, but it still burned. "I'm really sorry, Sara." She was starting to understand how Sara must have felt after Eddie's case was closed.  
  
"I'm not angry at you. I'm just getting sick of seeing the bad guy win." She didn't have the energy for much more of this. "Could you just take me home?"  
  
"Sure. I'll get your stuff." Catherine gathered Sara's books and magazines, and packed them up for her. They stopped at the desk to check Sara out, and get her prescriptions. The duo made their way out to Catherine's car in silence. Once safely buckled in, Catherine finally broke the quiet.  
  
"About that furball? What's his name?"  
  
Sara smiled weakly. It was a pleasant thought amongst many dire ones.  
  
"I'm leaning towards 'Spidey,' but 'Bugger' is also an option considering how much of a whirlwind you seem to think he is."  
  
"You can't name that sweet cat Bugger!" She laughed. "I like Spidey. I've never heard of a cat named Spidey. Gee. . .what could have inspired that name?" Catherine grinned a lopsided grin, feeling better now that the subject was lightened.  
  
"Yeah. I like the sound of it." Sara nodded her head, affirming her choice.  
  
"Grissom will love it." Then Catherine burst out laughing even harder.  
  
"What?!?" Sara looked over at her surprised.  
  
"You are going to have a fuzzy cat named Spidey, and he has a tarantula named Fluffy!"  
  
Sara laughed so hard she snorted. A brief respite before dealing with the rest of the world.  
  
TBC 


	13. Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to ki...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
A/N: Special thanks to TBAChikita for the darker aspects since I'm still in my happy place. Hehehe!  
  
Chapter 18:  
  
"Catherine?" Sam Braun smiled broadly as Catherine walked into his darkened penthouse office. "Glad to see you, Muggs!"  
  
"Wish I could say the same, Sam."  
  
She took a seat on one of Sam's plush visitor's chairs, and studied his face hard. He was in rare form this evening. All his charm was oozing out, and one could drown in it, forgetting all about their original purpose if care wasn't taken. She narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't going to let him charm her. Not this time.  
  
"Sam, I really need you to be honest with me. This is the last chance I'm giving you. This is it."  
  
Sam's broad smile dropped like a lead weight. He wasn't used to being given ultimatums. Especially not on his own turf. But, then, Catherine wasn't just some business partner, or lackey. She was the last of his bloodline, and she was a worthy opponent. Still, she had always ended up on his side one way or another. Sam Braun didn't lose.  
  
"Catherine." He stood up, and walked over to his large humidor, retrieving a cigar of questionable origin. "Whatever you've heard, it isn't true. I would never do the things they say I did. You know that. Do you really think I'm a cold-blooded killer?" He cut the end of the cigar off, and reached into his vest pocket for his lighter, never making eye contact.  
  
"Sam. . .I know you are." She took a deep breath. In the past she could easily take for granted the good graces Sam tossed her way, but given the current situation, a glimmer of fear sat in the pit of her stomach festering.  
  
"I'm sorry you think that." He lit the cigar, casting an eerie glow over his features. "All I can do is try to prove myself to you, Muggs. I have you and that little girl's best interests in mind. I hope you at least know that." He sat back down at his desk.  
  
At the mention of Lindsey, Catherine's anger overtook any fears she may have had.  
  
"Sam, you leave Lindsey out of this! You come near her, and there won't be enough bodyguards in Vegas to save your ass!" She was standing now, clinched fists, and shaking.  
  
"Catherine! Calm down, Hun. I would never do anything to harm that sweet little girl. But I won't have her thinkin' her Grandad's a murderer either. After this all blows over, I hope you'll realize I had nothing to do with this."  
  
"Really? What would you be telling me if it had been me in that pit? Would you have shot me too?"  
  
To his credit, Braun actually flinched at that comment.  
  
"I would never hurt you, Muggs! I didn't shoot your friend either. I'm sorry she seems to think otherwise. I'm the victim here too. I lost my son twice! Right now, I've got my guys searching for the ones who did this. They're the ones you should be after." There was that charm again. He could spin tales faster than most people could tell the truth; all while looking you straight in the eyes.  
  
Catherine blinked back tears of anger and frustration. He almost seemed to believe the story he was feeding her. And maybe he didn't do the actual shooting, but he was there. He stood over Sara as she lay bleeding, and believed he was leaving her for dead. This was the man who taught her all she knew about Vegas whether she'd wanted to know or not. Catherine pulled a check from her purse, and placed it on the center of Sam's desk.  
  
"This is almost all of it. I'll get you the rest as soon as I can. I don't' want to see you. I don't want you calling me, or showing up at my home. And stay the hell away from my daughter, or I will forget any good times we ever had together. You are not my father, and I am NOT your daughter."  
  
Catherine turned on shaky legs, and made a hasty exit. From behind his desk, Sam Braun grinned. Oh, she was his alright. More now than ever.  
  
Chapter 19:  
  
The apartment seemed even smaller with all the flower arrangements Sara received covering every available bit of counter space. People she had only spoken with once around the labs had sent her bouquets of flowers with get- well cards, and candy. Even complete strangers had sent her cards at the labs since she was on the news. Those who knew her better had sent arrangements in coffee mugs, and pounds of expensive coffee. Greg had even sent along a bag of his prized Blue Hawaiian along with a mix CD. Sara smiled, and sat up on her bed. Spidey yawned, stretched, and then inched his way over to her lap for some attention.  
  
"Hey there, little guy." She hugged the furball gently. He definitely made life more enjoyable. She had been home from the hospital two days, and already she was getting a bit stir crazy being detached from the case. It made her sick that Sam Braun and his goons were out there walking free. It was like he had "get out of jail free" tattooed on his forehead. Before she was able to get worked up about it again, she heard a knock at her door.  
  
Sara grinned when she spotted Grissom's features through her peephole.  
  
"Hi." She moved aside, and let him enter.  
  
"How are you feeling today?" Grissom sat a bag of take-out on her kitchen sink, and tugged his coat off.  
  
"A lot better." She grinned, and motioned for him to toss his coat on a chair.  
  
"Hi there!" Grissom bent down to pet Spidey's head. The kitten looked at him uncertainly, relaxing once Grissom started scratching behind his ears.  
  
Sara watched the exchange from across the room. She felt a pang of happiness in her chest causing her to sigh deeply.  
  
"Any word on when the trial will be?" Sara walked up behind her two favorite guys.  
  
"We're still tracking down witnesses, and questioning suspects." Grissom turned to face her. He knew she wanted to hear everything, but he hated being the one to tell her.  
  
"Still no one to back up my story? Why would I lie? I'm a credible witness alone aren't I?" She sat down on the edge of her desk.  
  
"Their lawyers have a doctor claiming that there was no way you were coherent enough to know what you were really seeing. He's claiming you hallucinated seeing Braun there. There's no real way to prove it one way or another." Grissom reached out for her hands. "Unfortunately, according to Greg, you weren't aware of what was going on around you by the time you were put in the ambulance. I believe what you told me, but I'm afraid at trial there won't be enough evidence. I'm sorry." He looked into her eyes to try to gauge her reaction. Her features betrayed little more than frustration. But he knew there had to be more.  
  
Sara took a deep breath, and leaned into Grissom. She wanted so desperately to get back out in the field. She wanted to do her job again, but then there were the nightmares. She hadn't told anyone about them. She didn't tell Grissom that every time she closed her eyes she saw Sam Braun's maniacal grin, and felt the searing pain of the bullet as it tore through her midsection. She didn't admit that she was scared to go out again. As much as she needed her work right now, she was scared. She couldn't live in fear. She had to deal with this sooner than later. Grissom was already pressuring her to speak with the department shrink. That was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want some stranger picking apart her life, and telling her how screwed up she was.  
  
"Sara?" Grissom pulled back from her upon feeling dampness against his shoulder.  
  
"I'm fine, Gris. I'm just really tired." She turned her head, wiping the rogue tears off on her sleeve. "Do you mind if I take a rain check on the dinner? I think I'm just going to take my meds, and hit the sack." She sighed again. This time it was for entirely different reasons.  
  
"Sure. I'll just put these in your fridge. Do you need anything before I go?" He looked around her place as if the answer was surrounding him.  
  
"Could you stay? Sleep with me? Just sleep." She looked up at him solemnly. "I don't want to be alone tonight."  
  
Grissom stood still for a moment as if weighing his options, then put his coat back down, sat on her desk chair, and began taking off his shoes.  
  
TBC 


	14. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 20:  
  
Grissom's eyes slowly blinked open as he woke to an unfamiliar sensation, warmth. He tilted his head slowly and smiled. Sara's back was right up against his, and Spidey was cuddled up near her head. She was in what was probably the only comfortable position for her to sleep in until her injuries healed. Grissom craned his neck to get a look at his watch; 4:30pm. He still had many hours before shift, and he didn't want to awaken Sara, but he slowly worked his way off the bed. He needed to check his messages, and the pager and phone were in his jacket across the room. He grabbed his jacket, and stepped out into the hallway.  
  
"This is Warrick."  
  
"Rick, any news on the Braun case?" Grissom stood leaning up against the wall, paging through his text messages.  
  
"Nothing much. One of his men had GSR on his hands, but he's a security guard, and he had been to the firing range that day. Go figure." Warrick's frustration was evident in his tone. They were being played like a fine violin.  
  
"I don't like this. This wasn't just premeditated." 'This was personal,' Grissom couldn't help thinking to himself. He needed to speak with Catherine, and soon.  
  
"Yeah. I've got some samples ready in the labs, Gris. Anything else I can do?"  
  
"Just keep on it. Is Brass with you guys still?"  
  
"No. He left a while ago."  
  
"OK. I'll get a hold of Brass and Catherine." Grissom closed his cell phone, and sighed. He didn't like where this case was headed.  
  
~-~-~  
  
"Celebrating?" The building inspector sat waiting in the sitting area of Braun's office.  
  
"Yeah. I believe I am." Sam sat down, and propped a foot up on his leather- inlaid desk. He was feeling rather full of himself, and never one to miss out on a chance to gloat. He cracked his gloved knuckles indulgently, and sat back.  
  
"Care for a drink, Mr. Newsome?"  
  
"I don't like to drink on the job." He smirked uneasily. He only thought he was getting paid to help bring down a structure. No one was supposed to be hurt.  
  
"Well, you don't know what yer missin'." Sam poured himself a tumbler of the amber-hued liquid, swirled it around a few times in his glass then tossed it back. Sam eyed the man before him appraisingly. He had done a good job for him. He even made it look like he fingered Sam for the whole thing. Good.  
  
"Here's your money." Sam pushed the thick envelope across his desk. Paul Newsome strode across the room, pocketed the envelope, and stopped at the door.  
  
"I just want you to understand that I can't do this again. I didn't know anyone would be hurt."  
  
"Admirable. I totally understand." Sam raised his glass to him as he closed the door.  
  
~-~-~-~  
  
"O'Riley." O'Riley growled into his cell as he dusted himself off in front of his car. Nick stood to the side grinning. It wasn't every day he got to see a man of O'Riley's , um, stature take a header into a sand pile. His ability to maintain his composure, and refrain from terribly many swear words had also been impressive. However, now, his expression was one of disgust.  
  
"Yer gonna love this." She shook his head as he approached Nick.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Our building inspector? Robbins has him in the morgue right now. Wrapped his car around a pole doing 60MPH. Looks like drunk driving. First officer on the scene said he smelled like alcohol. They also found an envelope full of money, and plans from the crime scene."  
  
"The money's bad news, but it's not unusual for him to have plans for the structure."  
  
"With instructions on how to safely take it down? And Sara's name was written on it as well."  
  
"Bad news." Nick shook his head as well, and looked back at the site. He still liked Braun for this, but why have Sara shot? "Page me if you find anything else. I gotta get back to the labs."  
  
Nick ran to the SUV, and headed back to CSI headquarters. He flipped open his phone, and called his friend, Officer Rick Roberts.  
  
"Hey, Nick. What's up?"  
  
"Got another favor to ask, Man. Any way you could find out who the first on the scene of a car crash was for me?"  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Sorry so short, but I rewrote most after getting back home, and have been fending off wild aunts since announcing my engagement. They mean well. Hehehe! Is it very wrong that I want to run away from home? Think Runaway Bride. 


	15. Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove un...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
CH.21  
  
Catherine sat at Grissom's desk awaiting his arrival. From the sound of things, he'd had some sort of break in the case. She hoped so, at least. She hated everything about this case. Times like today Catherine wished she'd taken a job outside of Vegas where nobody knew her. It had always been something she thought she would do, but she was as tied to this city as the neon signs that littered the nightscape.  
  
"Catherine?" Grissom walked in, startling her out of her thoughts.  
  
"Hey, Gris. What've you got?" She scooted closer to his desk.  
  
Grissom sighed, and sat down at his desk, clearing off space for the file he brought in.  
  
"That city engineer we had checking out the site? The cops found this in his front seat." Grissom handed her the familiar plans for the construction site. The same ones she had been shown that day before all hell broke loose.  
  
"Yeah? So?" She smirked, and handed the plans back. "He showed me these last week at the sight. He was marking where he thought they'd have to place explosives for the structure to collapse the way it did."  
  
Grissom let out a long breath.  
  
"Well, that explains that bit, but what bout Sara's name written in the corner?"  
  
"I wrote that. That's when I took myself off the case, and told him Sara was his contact from then on. What's the deal? Since when is Paul a suspect?"  
  
Grissom's eyebrows shot up at the use of the building inspector's first name, and at the fact that it was Catherine's handwriting on the plans. That wasn't good.  
  
"This could look bad, Cat. Paul Newsome died this morning in a car crash. They said it was drunk driving. The body's with Robbins and David right now."  
  
Catherine's voice caught in her throat.  
  
"I'm sorry, Catherine."  
  
"I, uh, we saw each other a few years back. Nothing serious. He was a good guy though."  
  
"There was something else. They found an envelope of money in his car. A hundred thousand. Not the kind of money a county engineer would just have lying around."  
  
Catherine furrowed her brow and looked away.  
  
"That complete bastard!" She hissed.  
  
"What is it, Catherine? What haven't you told me?"  
  
"The money. The other day I went to see Sam. Don't look at me like that, Gris. I know it wasn't the greatest idea, but I had to confront him. I gave him a check for a hundred thousand from the money he gave me, and told him to stay the hell away from me and Lindsey." She drew in a long breath, and sighed.  
  
Grissom kneaded the bridge of his nose, fending off the stress headache that was forming rapidly.  
  
"This isn't going to look good, Cat. There's a paper trail from a suspect that leads straight back to you. Add to that the fact that you wrote Sara's name on the plans for the demolition of the crime scene? And the only suspect besides Braun is now in the morgue. If Ecklie finds out about this before we're able to defuse it, you could end up as the number one suspect."  
  
Catherine's heart skipped a beat, and her face went pale with fear and disgust. Sam set her up, and she had inadvertently made it very easy for him. If he went down she went down right along with him. Fatherly love. All the evidence was lined up neatly like an arrow pointing straight at her and Sam.  
  
"Does anyone else know about the money?" Grissom refolded the plans, and tucked them back in the bindle.  
  
"Only the bank, the teller, and the bank cameras." Catherine groaned at what she now saw was a solid case building up against her. The only part of the holy trinity that wasn't in place was motive. She had no motive to have Sara killed, or to steal the body of her half brother. Her mind was a whir with the stories a lawyer would put together though.  
  
"I need to go see Sara." Catherine stood suddenly, her expression still one of shock and fear. "I don't want her hearing this from anybody else."  
  
"Catherine. . ."Grissom knew what he had to do, but he hated it because of the red flags it would raise around the labs. "I really think you need to take some time off. You shouldn't be around the evidence right now. I don't want anyone to be able to say you tampered with it, and use that against you."  
  
Catherine didn't argue with him. She knew it was the only thing he could do other than suspend her, considering the evidence. She nodded, and left the room quickly. Grissom took off his glasses, and rested a hand over his eyes.  
  
TBC 


	16. A little more than kin, and less than ki...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here. Please don't sue me.  
  
CH.22  
  
Sara greeted Catherine at her door with a smile. Her expression quickly changed to that of concern upon noting the look on Catherine's face.  
  
"What's wrong?" She ushered Catherine into her apartment, and went to her refrigerator for drinks. "Water? Juice?"  
  
"Juice would be fine, thanks. I just dropped Lindsey off at school." Catherine took a seat at Sara's computer desk.  
  
Sara handed Catherine a bottle of orange juice, and sat down across from her.  
  
"What's wrong, Cat?"  
  
Catherine explained the whole long story about the check, the plans, and the recently deceased building inspector as Sara listened intently. She ended by telling her she was on somewhat forced leave until things were straightened out. Sara was livid.  
  
"I know he's your dad and everything, but I'd really like to kick his ass!"  
  
Catherine gave her a wry smile.  
  
"I'll hold him down for you." She was exhausted, frustrated, and just plain disgusted.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Catherine. You're right though. This isn't looking good. But, hey! You've got my testimony." Sara suddenly remembered what good her testimony had done for her earlier. "Then again, we may be screwed." Sara hated injustice, and this was the highest form if ever she'd seen it. Her pulse raced, and she took deep breaths to relax. She seemed to have these attacks frequently since getting home from the hospital.  
  
"Whoa! It's ok, Sara. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted you to hear it from me."  
  
Sara looked down at their juice bottles, and suddenly snatched Catherine's bottle from her hands. Thinking Sara must be angry at her, Catherine rose to leave.  
  
"Stay put. I'm just adding something a little stronger. I think we both could use it." Sara gave Catherine a halfhearted grin, and reached for the full bottle of rum in the cabinet over her sink. She poured their orange juice into two glasses, and then added a generous portion of rum.  
  
"It's not like we're going anywhere." Sara handed a glass to Catherine, and took a long drink from her own.  
  
"You sure you're allowed to drink with your medication?" Catherine eyed the concoction suspiciously.  
  
"Yup. I'm just on antibiotics, and those are mostly gone." Sara took another drink, and sat back.  
  
Catherine took a sip, testing the flavor, then drank down half the glass.  
  
"Not bad." She wanted to ask Sara why she wasn't taking any pain killers anymore, but didn't have any argument left in her. "Grissom said he'd stop by after he gets off shift. They pulled Greg in fulltime."  
  
Sara smiled.  
  
"That's great! I bet he's happy." Sara emptied her glass, and was about to get up for more.  
  
"I'll get it." Catherine collected both their glasses, and laughed at the last site she had of Greg in the locker room as Grissom informed him. "I believe the term for his reaction is 'frolic.' He frolicked through the locker room." It felt good to smile.  
  
Spidey mewed from behind Sara, suddenly aware that he wasn't the center of attention.  
  
"Hi, little guy. C'mere." Sara scooped the kitten up, careful not to bend her midsection too much. She still had a bottle full of pain killers in her medicine cabinet, but wasn't taking them at night by choice. She had taken them as instructed the first few days upon getting home, but they knocked her out for hours at a time. She couldn't explain it other than she didn't feel safe enough to be left so unaware of her surroundings. Grissom had been coming over every day when he got off shift. It was the only way she could get any sleep. She took her pain pills only when she knew for certain that Grissom would be sleeping over.  
  
"This is such a mess." Catherine handed a fresh glass to Sara, and sat back down. "I knew he was capable of playing dirty. I guess I just thought I was immune somehow." Catherine's eyes were brimming with tears.  
  
"Aw, Cat, I'm sorry." Sara wasn't great at comforting people. She could listen with the best of them, but she hadn't really ever been the shoulder that anyone leaned on. She drank down her glass quickly, and set it aside. "You wanna talk about it?"  
  
"There's not much left to say. Sometimes people really suck." She shook her head. In one week, Sam Braun had managed to cripple half the night shift CSI's on her team. Sara with a gunshot wound, and herself with an unspoken threat.  
  
"I bet he's sitting in his office right now bragging to one of his slime bag lackeys." Catherine nearly spit the words out through clenched teeth. "And he won't be able to resist. He'll just have to see how it's affecting me. He always loved to see the results of his work."  
  
Sara sat up.  
  
"You think he's going to try something? You and Lindsey are welcomed here anytime, but there's not much space. Nick has a bigger place with a guest room, and I know he'd be happy to help you out." Sara didn't like the idea of Sam playing chess with their lives. She was nobody's pawn.  
  
"I can't leave town. That would look bad, and I hate the idea of hiding out, but for Lindsey's sake you may be right." Catherine put down her drink, and pulled out her phone. "I'll call my sister, and ask her to pick Lindsey up from school, and drop her off at the labs. I'll take a cab by my place, pick up some things, and meet up with them at work. If Nick agrees, he can drive us back to his place in his car."  
  
"Good thinking." Sara was relieved that they had some semblance of a plan. "You've got a while until Lindsey's off school though. You better stay put until some of that alcohol runs its course."  
  
"Yeah. I think you're right. Got any coffee?"  
  
"Over the stove. Take your pick. Greg sent some of his favorite over last week. Might as well go for the good stuff."  
  
With both Sara and now Catherine out, Grissom assigned Greg to work full time as a CSI, and pulled Archie in as a temporary sub. He didn't want to bring in any day shift subs if it was at all possible.  
  
TBC 


End file.
